Reason To Live
by MurasakiSpade
Summary: "With fathers that has caused so much pain for people, I think we would get along great."
1. Prologue

_The girl had risked her life stealing the fruit, thought she always risked her life. She knew quite a bit about devil fruits, and she was not keen on letting the shitty captain of an incompetent pirate crew obtain a logia power. That was the exact recipe for disaster._

 _Thankfully, she had her candidate in mind as she slipped around the back alley of the town. The captain of the pirate crew she had chosen had saved her when they first arrived on the island. From potential danger that she could've handled easily. But of course, the freckled teen captain did not need to know that. She had promised him a gift for saving her. Which only seemed fitting for someone she could tell was going to be a great pirate. Giving the freckled teen the fruit seemed like a good recipe for a great pirate._

 _Her dark black hair melding into the night, the girl reached the pirates without being seen, the Mera-Mera Fruit securely in the pouch in her hood pocket. The freckled teen had spotted her when she neared. She wasn't exactly being discreet to begin with. She approached him without a sound and passed him the pouch from her pocket. The freckled teen raised an eyebrow at the girl, but the girl shook her head and pointed to the ship. He frowned at her, but she silenced him from talking when she heard a distant noise. They had discovered she had stolen the fruit. She quickly gave the freckled teen a push towards his nakama, and smiled slightly._

 _"Do you want to come with us?" The freckled teen asked her. She paused at his question._

 _"Maybe when I am no longer a puppet of fate." She replied in her soft, bell-like voice before disappearing from the freckled teen's vision._


	2. Chapter 1

Jyuri looked around the town she had settled in for the past month, discontent evident in her features. She had been tailing one of Big Mom's combatants, but they had for some bizarre reason, vanished overnight. Of course, Jyuri had made sure she was not being reverse-tailed. It wasn't possible. She was Nyx of Altair, and Nyx was the best assassin. The best assassin was never bested.

At least, Jyuri hoped not.

She peered out the window of her room, wondering what she would do from then on. Jyuri was not keen on finding another executive, since she would expose too much of her tracks. And she knew it was bad. Pirates didn't often stay that long on the island either, making it difficult for her to gain their trust and sail with them. If she was going to leave the island anytime soon, she was going to have to make the shipwrecks send the bill to her hometown. Which would immediately send many enemies on her tail. She was not keen on that either.

She sighed, trailing her heterochromatic eyes on the people passing below in the busy street, one hand running through her dyed black hair before she spotted a familiar face. Her mood lifted instantly and she closed the window of the room, turning to her luggage and pulling out a clean white blouse alongside a pair of black short shorts. Securing the garter which held up her thigh-high socks with one hand, her other grabbed her trusty rapier and secured that against her hip. Finally, as she made her way out of the room, she grabbed the cape she had always used to cover her small frame, and let it drape over her like a curtain.

Making her way into town, she let her long black hair fly free and her heterochromatic eyes scan for the freckled teen she was looking for. With precision, she located the head of wavy onyx hair. Or perhaps, it was his way of inhaling food that drew her attention. In all her life of assassinating different types of people, it was Jyuri's first time witnessing a human being inhaling food at such a pace. She sincerely wondered how he had grown up to eat so much. But then again, Jyuri reminded herself, not everyone was trained to not eat for weeks at a time.

She was a special case, and she knew.

She made her way into the restaurant, finding her way to the bar, the side where the freckled teen had not stacked fifty empty plates, and sat down beside him just as he fell, face first, into his plate of food. The entire restaurant gasped in surprise as whispers soon began. The owner looked at Jyuri in suspicion, and Jyuri resisted an eye roll. She gently set her hand on the toned boy beside her, and shook him.

No response.

Jyuri tried again.

No response.

Jyuri sighed, and leaned in against the boy's ear, and whispered something she had learnt from his first-mate.

"Someone is going to steal your food." She whispered against the boy's ear, earning an instant response as the boy sat up straight, his eyes blinking. She backed away a little and kept quiet.

"Ah sorry, I must've fell asleep." He said calmly as he resumed his meal. Jyuri swallowed a giggle as the boy's eyes focused on her. "Did you wake me up Miss? Thank you!"

"The owner was going to suspect me of poisoning you if I didn't wake you." Jyuri said apologetically. "I'm personally not the biggest fan of disturbing good dreams."

"That's nice of you, Miss." The teen grinned at her before shoving more food into his mouth. Then he narrowed his eyes and observed the girl for a moment, before speaking again. "Have I seen you somewhere before, Miss?"

"You should ask your memory that, young captain." Jyuri shrugged as she picked up the beer that was set in front of the freckled teen, taking a sip out of the jug. "But I've taken a real shine to you, so count this meal on my tab."

"Miss, you're really generous!" The teen grinned. "I'm Ace, what's your name Miss?"

"Jyuri," Jyuri replied simply. "Nice to meet you, young captain."

"Even though I told you my name," Ace whined, and Jyuri giggled. "At least, it's better than another nickname."

"I can imagine." Jyuri replied as Ace set down the last empty plate into the pile. She took out a small sack of Beri and set it on the table for the restaurant owner. Ace raised an eyebrow at the amount the girl gave, and Jyuri simply smiled drily. "I have accumulated a lot of wealth for the short time I've been alive. It's an easy way to spend some."

"Lawfully?" Ace teased the girl, who smiled at him mysteriously.

"Take a wild guess, young captain."

"How do you even know, that I'm a captain?"

"The way you carry yourself," Jyuri replied without a pause at the two walked out of the restaurant side by side. "I've got some tricks up my sleeve you know."

"I don't doubt." Ace commented sincerely. "Hey Jyuri, wanna met my crew?"

"I don't see why not, I've got free time." Jyuri said as she followed Ace to a small ship.

"It's not a big crew at the moment, but I will make myself known to the world soon enough."

"I don't doubt." Jyuri echoed Ace's prior words. Ace laughed at Jyuri's words. "I'm being honest, since you seem like the type to be a good captain."

"Captain! You're back!" A man with a white cow-boy hat greeted, and his gaze settled on the small form of Jyuri. He smiled at her. "Who is the young…wait, aren't you the girl from Locket Town?"

"Locket Town?" Ace parroted before recognition flashed in his eyes and he turned to Jyuri. "The girl who gave me the fruit!"

"Your memory serves you correctly, young captain." Jyuri smiled at Ace sweetly before bowing. "Thank you once again for your act of kindness back on Locket."

"Nah, you just reminded me a little of my younger brother." Ace grinned, scratching the back of his head. Jyuri looked up at Ace, her features overtaken by confusion before the member of Ace's crew laughed.

"I'm Douglas," He introduced. Jyuri bowed at him in greeting, but before she could introduce herself, Douglas continued talking. "Captain Ace can never stop talking about his troublemaker of a little brother."

"I, do not think," Jyuri started slowly, her expression perplexed. "That I am a troublemaker."

"I'm sure you're not, Miss Jyuri." Douglas laughed. "But Miss, you interested in being a pirate?"

"My invitation from before still stands." Ace added. Jyuri thought for a while, before nodding slowly. She had originally wanted to use them to get out of the island. But they were so sincerely nice to Jyuri that part of her warned her against travelling with them.

"I believe it will be a good life experience." Jyuri muttered. Ace and Douglas shared a look before both bursting out in laughter. Jyuri looked up at the two before confusion clouded her face once more.

"Jyuri, once you become a pirate, you are a pirate for life." Ace said, spreading his arms wide. "Welcome to the Spade Pirates, Jyuri."

"Ah," Jyuri let out a small groan. Ace and Douglas looked at Jyuri quizzically. "My woman's intuition is telling me to have second thoughts."

"Too late, Miss." Douglas laughed as he pulled Jyuri onto the ship.

"My luggage is still back there." Jyuri commented weakly.

* * *

"I do not understand, Captain." Jyuri commented as she walked into Ace's room. The freckled teen was looking at a map and looked up at Jyuri when she walked in. Without a second thought, Jyuri sat herself on Ace's bed, expression in the form of a pout.

"What's wrong, Chii?" Ace asked. It had been a month and a half since Jyuri had begun travelling with the Spade Pirates, and Ace had developed a ridiculous nickname for her. She pointed a finger at Ace.

"That, that nickname is the problem." Jyuri complained, still pouting. "I don't understand that nickname!"

"But, Chii is small, and cute, it suits you." Ace shrugged with his now infuriating grin. Jyuri sighed in defeat as she leaned back onto Ace's bed in a thud.

"I wonder what Louis would say about that nickname." Jyuri muttered quietly, slipping off her heels before curling up on Ace's bed.

"Louis?"

"My brother," Jyuri murmured, her eyes drooping. "He's a cute kid."

"How old are you, Chii?" Ace laughed at the girl's choice of words. Jyuri let out a small groan.

"I'm fifteen this year, Captain." Jyuri replied. Her right, yellow eye looked at Ace, who looked surprised. "I bet Captain thought I was younger."

"No kidding Chii." Ace replied. Jyuri huffed and closed her eyes.

"I'm going to sleep a bit Captain," Jyuri murmured. "Wake me up when I need to prepare dinner."

* * *

"Chii, wake up." Jyuri woke up to someone ruffling her hair. She had really not slept so easily before meeting Ace. It was a dangerous sign. She was getting too comfortable. But she ignored that as she opened her eyes slowly, and was greeted with the grin of Ace, which was no longer as infuriating as she had thought, and a plate of food in his hand. His other hand was still ruffling her hair, which was really uncomfortable since the teen had no idea how much heat he radiated. Jyuri sat up slowly and frowning, moved Ace's hand from the top of her hair. "And the cutie awakens."

"What, time is it?" Jyuri asked, her brain trying to comprehend why Ace was passing her a plate of food.

"It's dinner time." Ace said. And before Jyuri could question anything, Ace spoke again. "We caught a big fish, so we decided it would be good if Chii slept a little more and we made dinner."

"I'm fine," Jyuri replied, her frown not disappearing. "I don't need this much sleep."

"Yes, you do." Ace deadpanned and shoved the plate in Jyuri's lap before passing her a fork. He placed a finger on her forehead. "Do you think we don't know how little you sleep?"

"I sleep fine." Jyuri protested, taking a little bit of fish with her fork and gingerly putting it into her mouth. At least it was edible this time.

"Once every five days hardly counts as fine, Chii." Ace said. Jyuri looked away from the teen and seemed to suddenly find her food very interesting. "No wonder you don't grow."

"I don't grow for a different reason," Jyuri muttered. "But thank you Captain."

"Just looking out for my little sister."

"I don't want to be Captain's little sister." Jyuri said plainly.

"Why not?"

"That's for me to know Captain," Jyuri started, biting the fork in her hand. "And for you to find out."


	3. Chapter 2

_The chapter is late. I know, I'm super sorry. I said Monday on my profile. I know. But my internet connection got cut out for four days and I couldn't even submit my uni assignments. But I got internet, so...great. Its a day late but it's here. Enjoy~  
_

 _Thank you to the six people who have decided to give the story a follow! And also special thanks for Guest666-69 for reviewing! Hope you guys enjoy~_

* * *

 _You do not exist._

 _You are Nyx of Altair._

 _You will be the greatest terror I raise._

Jyuri blinked as she looked out from the crows' nest. It had been almost too quiet and peaceful, to the extent where she had spaced out. She found herself doing so quite often since she began travelling with the Spade Pirates. It was strange. It was merely a crew of ten, though they were actively recruiting. Despite Jyuri's usual guard, she was feeling so much at ease with the pirates. More than she should've been.

The memories of her father's words left a bad taste in her mouth, but she decided that it would be ok for her to just sit back for a little while, since it was so peaceful. With one hand, she sent a series of sound waves out, acting as a sonar to detect any possible threat. she leaned back when she detected nothing, but kept up the sound waves. It was the lowest possible she could manage without stealing too much of her friend's power.

Jyuri closed her eyes and sighed, wishing she had brought up with her some pear water. That was the one thing she always counted on to calm her nerves whenever her mind reminded her of her father. It had been a while since her father's voice had echoed in her head. Perhaps it was her sign that she was getting too comfortable.

"Maybe, Father," Jyuri began in a soft voice, trying to reason with the echo in her head. "Sometimes it's ok for me to indulge a little."

 _You are a weapon._

"Doesn't Alabasta have a weapon that consumed a devil fruit?" Her soft voice continued to reason with the echo. "I'm not like the mermaid princess either."

 _Kill your emotions._

"But Father, you did not throw away your pride." Jyuri replied in a whisper. Somewhere in her web of sound, she detected a disturbance. Off west, just near seven o'clock, about a kilometre. Jyuri pulled herself up and propped herself onto the railing of the crows' nest, and in a loud voice, voiced her warning. "Disturbance detected, near seven o'clock, about a kilometre."

"Got it Jyuri, do you want some booze?" Douglas offered as she jumped down from the crows' nest. She frowned at the older man, who simply laughed before patting her on the head. "Jyuri, it's not poison."

"We might be under attack." Jyuri replied weakly, knowing her comment will not change anything. If anything, the prospect of being under attack only made the Spade crew more excited.

"Chii, what's the occasion, you've plaited your hair." Ace asked as he came onto the deck. Jyuri spun around and moved Ace's hand off one of her plaits. "What, it's cute."

"Can I, go see if it's a threat?" Jyuri gave up attempting to warn any of the pirates. Ace looked at Jyuri for a while, seeing the girl's slight annoyance before nodding. Jyuri smiled slightly before disappearing from the deck of the small ship. Douglas gave Ace an uncertain look, but Ace shrugged it off. Jyuri was somewhat of a free spirit, and Ace understood that to a certain extent. At least, Ace never felt threatened by the girl.

But there were so many things Ace did not know about the girl. Her fruit power for example, remained a complete mystery to the freckled male. But he knew she was no push-over. At least, not weak enough she had required his help back in Locket Town. They had collective laughed about it once Jyuri was settled into the crew, but Ace couldn't help but feel as if Jyuri was hiding something away from the crew. But who was he to judge, since his secret was the biggest of all.

"Ace, look at that." A man with a bandana over his head pointed into the horizon, passing Ace the binoculars. Ace took the binoculars and put them to his eyes just in time to catch a giant ship dissemble and being to sink. A few seconds later, just as the ship almost disappeared completely into the water, the soft voice of Jyuri pulled Ace away from the sight.

"They were being really rude to me." She explained before any of the crew asked. "I only asked them what they wanted to do with those really dangerous looking weapons."

"And how did you sink them, Chii?" Ace asked, an eyebrow raised. Jyuri tilted her head sideways a little, trying to find the right words to describe what she had done.

"All things have a natural frequency," Jyuri started, with the rest of the crew's attention on her. "I just, destroyed the frequency."

"Anyone understood that?" Douglas asked after a short silence, and was met with more silence from the crew. "Well, that's the end of that conversation."

"I can demonstrate." Jyuri offered weakly before Ace's hand landed on the top of her head. She looked up to see a toothy grin.

"It's fine Chii, as long as you are our nakama." Ace said. Jyuri felt a chill run down her back. The first since she had stopped hunting Big Mom's executives. She did _not_ want Ace as an enemy. Not that, she thought to herself, she would have the heart to point her rapier at the freckled teen.

"Captain, you're scary." Jyuri pouted as she followed Ace and the rest of the crew into the galley. She wondered who was on kitchen duty, until she saw the food and felt tears surface. She felt really sorry for the food whenever Montag cooked. She suspected, that for the glorious doctor skills Montag gained, he gave away the rest of his common sense.

* * *

"Chii, what would you need in here?" Ace asked as he followed the girl into a general store. He was pretty sure the girl had more than enough travel necessities, but she seemed to have different ideas as she bounced through the store, in search for something she had not told Ace about. Ace trailed behind the girl, who had followed him off the ship but had led the way ever since they set foot onto the island. But of course, Ace wasn't complaining. Jyuri stopped at a section and quickly grabbed a few items before she bypassed Ace and dropped a bag of Beri at the counter, thanking the owner who looked, buggy eyed at the girl. "Chii, just how much money…"

"Enough for me to buy my way into nobility." Jyuri cut Ace off as she held the shopping bag in one hand while she pointed off somewhere in the distance with the other hand. "There is a restaurant over that side, if Captain wants to spend some time there. I promised Douglas that I would help him stock up."

"Oh, food." Ace's eyes lit up and Jyuri quickly grabbed the teen's hand, stopping him from dashing off. Reaching into her pocket, she gave Ace another small pouch of Beri. "Honestly, where do you even get that from?"

"Just please, stop doing the dine and dash thing." Jyuri said and let go of Ace's hand. Ace casted her a strange look before he disappeared off in the direction of the restaurant Jyuri pointed at. Jyuri peered into the bag in her hand. Three bottles of black hair dye. She was hoping it would last her longer this time. She really wasn't fond of the black, but she held worse grudges against the changed pink of her hair. One or the other, Jyuri chose black, until she could reclaim her real hair colour. She closed the bag and made her way to a few more shops, making sure that she had actually gotten the supplies they needed for the voyage, and then hauled the supplies back to the ship. She put them neatly in the supplies room before checking who remained on the ship. She spotted the top-hat before she saw the person. Jyuri jumped onto the crows' nest and found Ram, the crew's navigator. She was greeted with a warm smile.

"Jyuri, back already?"

"Captain is ok without me babysitting him." Jyuri shrugged. "Do you want to go explore the town a little bit? I can keep watch."

"Are you sure…?"

"It's fine, I don't quite like towns to begin with." Jyuri replied. Ram followed Jyuri off of the crows' nest and rumbled a laugh.

"We learn something new about Jyuri every day." Ram said before climbing onto the ladder down the ship. Jyuri waved at the man before making her way inside. She took off all her clothes and dumped them onto the side of the bathroom. And she set to work, dying her hair black.

* * *

Jyuri had been enjoying her bath on the ship alone when she heard a distant yelling. And normally, it meant Ace had done something stupid again, but this time, Jyuri noted, she could not hear the footsteps of Ace. Well she could, but she could at least tell it was not him making the ruckus. She had just stepped out of the bath when the bathroom door opened to the freckled teen. He closed the bathroom door behind him and looked up. The two locked eyes for three seconds.

Three.

Two.

One.

Ace's face exploded into flames, quickly covering his eyes. For some reason, he was dripping wet. Jyuri dashed to the towel she had brought into the bathroom and quickly wrapped it around herself, stifling a threat. She glanced at the three bottles of hair dye in the other corner of the room and wanted to scream. The hair dye she could at least explain, but what if Ace was to ask about the scars. After a few awkward seconds, Jyuri decided to speak up.

"Captain, turn around and face the door for thirty seconds?" She asked. Without a word, Ace turned around and faced the door. Jyuri quickly shuffled over to her clothes and put on the long-sleeved blouse and black pants. At least her scars weren't visible anymore. When she was done, she tapped Ace on the shoulder. "Captain, what happened to you?"

"I, uh, was, um, met someone." Ace stuttered. He paused when he saw the ends of Jyuri's mouth curled up. He sighed, and raised the question. "I'm supposing you don't want to talk about the scars?"

"As much as Captain wants to talk about himself." Jyuri replied evenly and pushed Ace to the bath. "Go on, we don't want Captain to continue looking like someone just dumped water on you."

"Chii?"

"Hmm?"

"You are part of the crew, right?"

"As long as Captain doesn't hate me." Jyuri replied softly, closing the bathroom door behind her. She could take care of the hair dye bottles later.

* * *

"Douglas, explain this situation to me." Jyuri demanded as her hair was brushed out by a maid, while another took her measurements. Douglas stood by the door, looking really scared, but slightly amused.

"Captain Ace saved this girl from pirates, but she's out cold from all the fright." Douglas said, as if that explained anything to Jyuri. Jyuri sent a glare at Douglas, who quickly continued. "Her family's rich, and she's got someone to meet in three days. Just in case she doesn't wake up, Jyuri, you're the substitute."

"I don't get a say in this?" Jyuri questioned, anger seeping through her voice.

"It's not like you really will. Plus, they promised a big ship."

"Douglas," Jyuri smiled sweetly at Douglas as a maid moved to undress her. "Do me a favour and tell Captain, in the following, exact, words – I happen to need a new weapon, could I have one of Captain's ribs?" Douglas stood up straight and paled before dashing straight out of the room. Jyuri's hand stopped the woman's hands from unbuttoning her blouse. The maid frowned. Jyuri looked at her apologetically. "I know you need the measurements without my clothes, but please, I do not want to alarm anyone. I can just tell you my measurements."

"But…"

"If you do not trust me, at least trust the brand designer Feather Mimi." Jyuri said, showing the brand logo on her blouse to the maid. Immediately the maid back off her, while the other that had been brushing her hair froze. They bowed respectfully before one left to grab a piece of paper and a pen.

"Miss, are you not a pirate?" The girl who worked on Jyuri's hair asked.

"Mimi is a good friend of mine, that is all." Jyuri replied. The older woman returned and passed Jyuri some paper and a pen. Jotting down her measurement which she had memorised, she passed them back to the woman before a different maid showed up with a dress that Jyuri could tell was a child's. But it was going to fit her. And besides the new maid, was another who held, and Jyuri almost groaned – corsets. Which meant of course, they still wanted to strip her. Jyuri swallowed all her emotions. "Just as a warning," She started as the maid started unbuttoning her shirt. "There are a lot of scars, and they are not pretty in the slightest."

The maid nodded, and once the shirt was completely unbuttoned, Jyuri heard a gasp. If nothing else, Jyuri knew it was from the long scar that ran from her left shoulder to just the top of her stomach. But, to Jyuri's relief, the maid quickly put the corset onto the girl. She made a quick mental note to tip the maid when she was done.

'Well, here's comes the socially sanctioned torture device.' Jyuri thought to herself as the maids set to work, tightening the corset.

* * *

The Spade crew felt the anger of the girl before they saw her come down the stairs. Douglas had told the young captain the girl's words, which had sent chills down everyone's backs. Ace had, as usual, randomly fallen asleep, while the others of the crew tried their best to converse with the owners of the mansion they were in. The owners were nice enough people, but they seemed way too nervous about the potential marriage partner, which made the crew a little unsettled. Well, more unsettled than they had been with Jyuri's threat hanging over them.

They had been mid conversation when the girl came down the stairs. Half of her long black hair was curled, and tied into a bun onto one side, while the remainder of hair was left down. She wore a rose-pink dress with lots of frills, adorned with a surreal amount of jewellery. Her red and yellow eyes were now covered with coloured contacts, so her pupils were as dark as her hair. She looked like the daughter of a noble, but her killing intent was stronger than any pirate the crew had came across. Douglas put a hand on Ace's shoulder and shook the young captain violently. Ace sat up groggily, trying to understand the situation.

"Douglas, I'm really hoping," Jyuri started as she made her way to the stunned crowd. "You, for one, told Captain what I wanted to say." Douglas nodded. "And two, brought my rapier with you."

"Well, we didn't think…" Douglas trailed off.

"Chii, you look pretty good in that." Ace cut in, completely not reading the mood. Jyuri slowly looked over at Ace, as if absolutely tired of his nonsense. Douglas guessed that she probably was.

"Captain, if you wanted a bigger ship, I could've gotten you one." Jyuri said to Ace, who merely grinned and shrugged. Jyuri turned to the two owners of the mansion. "Could I please speak to the two of you in private?"

"Ah, yes, sure?"

"I don't care what happens to me," Jyuri started once the three of them were in a different room. Her calm demeanour shifted and she looked at the couple with nothing but bloodlust. "But you do not take the crew as a joke. I will help you please the noble, but after that, if you do not give Captain the ship you promised, I can guarantee you, the island will be flattened."

"A sharp little girl you are."

"You do not take the Princess of Altair lightly." Jyuri said with a smile. The older couple paled considerably and began to shake. Jyuri's smile widened. "The ship better make Captain feel like a king."

* * *

 _I feel like I rushed the plot a little at the beginning, bear with me, please. It will get better.  
Hopefully._

 _Murasaki xx_


	4. Chapter 3

_I feel like I have underestimated how popular One Piece fanfiction is. Honestly. Thank you to the three followers that has taken my story into their follows since the last chapters, and thank you for all the people tuning in once again! It's super lovely to see people tuning into my story again._

 _I also feel like I should apologise for the scene jumping. My brain is wired to skip bits that requires a lot of effort (like my uni assignments), and therefore...well...yeah..._

 _Also to dear **Guest666-69** , yes, Ace did see Jyuri naked. I suppose at one point every writer is required to use that cliche, and I chose to get it in early. LOLOL. Well, we shall see what he thinks, if my brain remembered to include anything. If not...well, remind me and I will later. Thank you for the review, and sorry I made you wait for a week for another chapter. Hope you like this chapter as you did the last._

 _Without further ado...Have fun reading!_

* * *

Ace shared a look with Ram and Douglas, all three males wondering perhaps the same question as the other – just how capable was Jyuri. They trained their eyes onto the girl sitting on the stool in front of the grand piano. She was supposed to be having lessons from a piano teacher, but the three had just watched as she outperformed the teacher, sending the middle-aged man running out. She looked over to the open door of the room and smiled when she saw the three.

"Captain, Douglas and Ram, what brings pirates to a girl's piano lessons?" Ah, nope, that was a smile of doom. But without a single trace of fear, Ace walked into the room.

"Chii, you're pretty good at this." Ace commented.

"Is there anything Captain wants to hear?" Jyuri asked. "Since I'm here, and we probably won't have a grand piano again."

"Is there anything you can't do, Jyuri?" Ram asked when Ace shook his head at Jyuri's question. Jyuri look at Ram blankly.

"Of course, there's plenty of things I can't do." Jyuri deadpanned.

"Like what?"

"Like," Jyuri searched for something in her head and paused for a moment. "Swim."

"Eh, but that's your devil fruit." Douglas waved it off.

"Well, I've been a fruit user since I could walk, it's not like I had a chance to learn." Jyuri shrugged and set her finger onto the keys again. "Douglas, Ram, any requests?"

"Binks Sake." Douglas laughed. Jyuri looked at Douglas quizzically.

"What is that?"

"And you call yourself a pirate Jyuri." Ram chided good naturedly. Jyuri frowned.

"I can't play accompaniments." Jyuri replied after a short pause. "There was never a need for me to play an accompaniment."

"Well, time to learn Jyuri, because you're a pirate." Ram said.

"I feel like I don't want to." Jyuri muttered to herself.

* * *

Jyuri sat across the noble. She had just finished stopping Ace from burning everything down, and she had trouble understanding why Ace had gotten so angry over the word noble. But she wasn't going to ask. Knowledge of the person would mean attachment, and Jyuri didn't want attachments.

But she did want to give something to the crew. And if her past was going to help that cause, then she would happily use the skills she had acquired involuntarily. And everything had been all well, until she smelt smoke. Well, the noble _had_ been groping her beneath the table, but she was sure she did not let her disgust show. Or somehow, Ace could read minds.

OR, she thought to herself as the others caught onto the situation. Ace could just be really annoyed. He set fire to things when he was annoyed. She was sure she had calmed him down. Jyuri swallowed a sigh as she excused herself, the hosts trying to reassure that the house was fine, and that the smoke was probably just from next door. Jyuri made her way to the place she felt the smoke came from.

She caught Douglas, but Ace was nowhere to be seen. Douglas sent her an apologetic expression, but Jyuri waved it off. Without a word to the first mate, Jyuri made the fire disappear, and quickly made her way back to the room, where the noble waited for her.

* * *

"Captain, what brings you here?" Jyuri asked as heard Ace's footsteps approach her. She was in the library, and it was almost midnight. If anything, Jyuri was worried about the books. Books were too precious to be exposed to the nature danger known as Ace. He _was_ fire. And he looked antsy.

"Let's forget about the ship, I don't particularly like nobles." Ace said after a short while, his tone uncharacteristically serious. Jyuri turned her full attention to Ace, forgetting about the book that was in her hands.

"That has to be," Jyuri started in a soft voice, noticing another set of footsteps approaching the library. "The biggest understatement." Jyuri stopped once again and listened. It was the blasted noble. Jyuri quickly put a finger to her lips before Ace could say anything. She closed the book and held it in one hand while the other settled on Ace's arm. "Hide, I will take care of it. Trust me, Ace."

"Catherine, it's not going to do your beauty any good if you spend too much time pouring over books." The noble said to Jyuri. Of course, since she was stepping in for the daughter, Jyuri responded.

"I apologise, just that, this book was so interesting I seemed to have forgotten about the time." Jyuri replied following a courtesy. When she had put away the book and looked back up at the noble, she came to realise his intentions. His heartbeat was irregular, his breathing even more so. His intentions were clear as day as he grabbed Jyuri's arm. She debated in her head what her possible paths she could take from that situation. But her thoughts were rudely interrupted when the noble reached his hands to touch her breasts. She swallowed all her killing intent. It was too soon.

Fire erupted from Ace's hiding place and a fist came down from above, landing right on the head of the noble, knocking him unconscious. Ace looked at Jyuri with disapproval.

Apparently not too soon.

Jyuri bit the bottom of her lip.

"My dear Captain," She began as she dragged him away from the noble as she noticed small sparks around the library. "Did I ever get a chance to tell you I quite liked books?"

"Why?"

"Because, I want Captain to have second thoughts about burning down libraries next time." Jyuri deadpanned as she led Ace down a corridor. She pointed to one of the rooms down the corridor. "That's the room where their safe is. Does Captain want something?"

"Of course, we're pir-" Ace cut off as he fell asleep. Jyuri felt annoyance. It was the first time she had felt _annoyance_ since her father's death. She slapped Ace hard across the shoulder. Ace woke up. "Ouch."

"Ouch indeed, come on Captain, let's move. Then burn this place down." Jyuri said as the two slipped into the room with the safe. Of course, they did not know the code.

"How about just taking all of it?"

"What's the fun in that, Captain?" Jyuri asked as she put an ear to the safe while her right hand spun the dial. _Click_. Jyuri moved onto the second layer of dial. _Click_. She moved back as the safe door opened. "There should be a bag behind the shelf to your left Captain. I'll go get the others."

"Chii, you came prepared." Ace grinned as he loaded the valuable items into the bag he found exactly where Jyuri had told him. Jyuri merely flashed him a smile before she disappeared, in her glorious dress, down the corridor.

* * *

"I thought Jyuri was _against_ Captain rampaging?" Montag asked her as they set sail from the island, watching as people began to freak out from the outbreak of fire. Jyuri turned to face the big doctor, still dressed in clothes of the rich. She smiled drily.

"Well, being against something does not mean the ability to stop it from happening." She reasoned, taking off the gloves she still wore on her hands and dropping them into the ocean. "Also, I don't particularly enjoy getting groped by disgusting men."

"That sounds like an excuse Jyuri," Douglas said as he approached the girl with a cup of warm tea. Jyuri took the cup and had a sip. It was ok. "You had everything planned out."

"Of course," Jyuri replied. "I do not enjoy doing anything without a plan."

"Which is perfectly logical." Montag commented. Jyuri heard the 'but' in his tone. She sighed.

"If Captain isn't going to do it, then I might as well." Jyuri said, attempting to stretch, only to be reminded by the torture device around her waist that she could not stretch. She grimaced, and turned to Montag. "Montag, our good doctor, could you please assist me in getting myself out of this torture device?"

"It cannot be that bad, can it?" Douglas laughed at Jyuri's description. Jyuri turned to Douglas with another sweet smile. Douglas knew then, that he had misspoken. "But then again, Jyuri, I guess…"

"Douglas, could you refrain from moving from that exact spot for a moment?" Jyuri asked, no, commanded. Douglas did not dare move while Jyuri disappeared into the ship with Montag. Montag had merely looked at him with sympathy. Jyuri returned a moment later with a corset in her arms, which she ceremoniously dropped in front of Douglas. "I shall let you be the judge of your question, Douglas."

"Wait, wait, Jyuri, wait, I'm sorry." Douglas screamed as Jyuri held him in place with abnormal power, and made him step through the cage-like structure.

* * *

"What is going on?" Ace asked as he stepped through the door just in time to see Jyuri pull on the strings of the corset hard, causing Douglas to cough and gasp for air. The other crew members were caught between laughing and grimacing. At least, Ace judged from the situation, no one would try to anger Jyuri again. "What are you doing, Chii?"

"Douglas said that this thing can't be too bad, so I'm having him be the judge of that, Captain." Jyuri replied easily as she tugged on the strings harder. "Douglas dear, I'm going to need you to tuck your tummy in."

"Alright Chii, stop." Ace decided to interfere. Jyuri did not let go of the strings, but turned to look at Ace. "I think you've proven your point."

"But," Jyuri began. Ace raised an eyebrow, but Jyuri did not continue her sentence. She simply let go of the strings, and made her way past Ace, into the ship. In a smaller voice, she finished her sentence as she passed Ace. She sounded so incredibly amused. "In my home town, we reduced the waist line to about half the original."

"Douglas, let's get you out of that." Montag said as Jyuri was well out of earshot.

* * *

"Chii?" Ace looked into the room he had given Jyuri, but of course, she was not in there. Ace set off to his room. He had learnt that Jyuri was almost never in her private room. It was one thing that she didn't sleep, and it was another that she seemed almost always be on guard of something. She liked the crows' nest, and she also liked Ace's room for some reason. Ace thought about it. Those seemed to be the only things he knew about Jyuri.

She used to wear corsets.

Ace remembered having to burn the corset off his first mate just before he set out to find Jyuri. He was sure the entire crew, though small, never wanted to get on Jyuri's bad side ever again. He could've laughed. She was 148cm, 15 and mostly unarmed. He couldn't imagine Jyuri ever harming anyone of the crew. Or at least, that was his impression of Jyuri's attitude to him and his crew. He did feel an occasional chill or two when they were under attack. Jyuri hid much more than she seemed.

He found Jyuri curled up on his bed, eye closed and her hair plaited to one side. Ace was just about to pull the covers over her when her hand grabbed his, halting him of his movements as her eyes snapped open. She quickly let go and her brain seemed to register that she was not under attack. Ace wondered what she could've been subjected to for Jyuri to be so on guard, constantly.

"Captain, it's better to know as little about me as possible." Jyuri murmured as she sat up in his bed. It was as if she could read his mind. "I can't read minds Captain."

"Then Chii, explain how you seem to be guessing my thoughts?" Ace asked as he sat down on the bed, next to Jyuri. Jyuri shrugged.

"I have seen a lot, and your heartbeat betrays you, Captain." Jyuri replied and yawned. "When you are wondering something, your heartbeat slows down and allows your brain to think. It's the little things that count."

"Chii, I've got a name, how about using it?" Ace suggested out of the blue. Jyuri looked at Ace with a bewildered expression, before shaking her head. Ace frowned. "You used it back in that mansion."

"That was because Captain wasn't planning on listening to me if I didn't." Jyuri said quickly. "Captain is Captain, and I will continue calling you Captain."

"Chii, you're really-" Ace's sentence cut out and he fell asleep. Jyuri watched the freckled teen with a smile, her hand running lightly through his hair.

"You could just tell me, Captain's orders." Jyuri said lightly, letting Ace sleep.

* * *

Jyuri looked at the newspaper with a smirk. Bounty increase. For Ace, of course.

Then she turned the page. Her family symbol, in all its dark glory, stared back at her. She quickly scanned the article. It was a trap. A trap from her worst enemy – Big Mom. So they _had_ caught onto her tracks. But by the looks of it, her inactivity only caused them anxiety. Jyuri sighed. She didn't have to leave the Spade Pirates yet. She could indulge herself for a while longer.

Jyuri jumped out of the crows' nest and dropped the newspaper in Ace's lap as he sat on the deck, playing cards with Douglas and Damien, the shipwright. Ace picked up the newspaper and saw why Jyuri had dropped it.

It was celebration time.

* * *

 _Thanks for tuning in, and see you lovelies next time~  
Murasaki xx  
_


	5. Chapter 4

_This is the story with the least chapters yet the story with my most views...One Piece fandom is a fearsome territory to tread. I shall continue to tread cautiously..._

 _Thank you to the four followers that have added this story to their list after the last update, and I feel like I don't say this enough but I'm really glad people like my stories. (I get the feeling that most people don't read these but...I like writing them, idk)_

 _Enjoy~_

* * *

"Hand over the Princess of Altair!" Jyuri jumped out of Ace's bed, her heartbeat going insane. She was sure she set up the protection radars before she went to sleep. How could she not have noticed a threat? Then her brain registered the sentence.

She had let her guard down.

She was exposed.

Her indulgence was over.

A chill ran down the girl's back as she swallowed hard. She didn't want to say goodbye to the Spades like that. She tumbled out of bed, her brain still trying to figure out a pathway she could take. Her rapier was lying next to the door. There must've been some turbulence. She quickly grabbed it and scrambled onto the deck. There, the small crew of the Spade Pirates battled a crew under Big Mom. She recognised the woman observing the situation immediately. Harpy.

Jyuri controlled all her micro-movements.

She could not let anything betray her inner turmoil.

"I was wondering where you could be, Nyx." Harpy's thrill voice seemed all too amused. "I wouldn't have taken the Princess of Altair to board such a small crew."

"Jyuri, do you know this woman?" Douglas shouted over the battle. Jyuri cringed internally. The situation could not get any worse. Harpy laughed.

"Jyuri? Is that your alias this time around?" Harpy questioned. Jyuri drew her weapon. The sharp end of the rapier pointed at Harpy's alluring face before Jyuri disappeared from sight. She appeared a second later behind Harpy, only to feel her arm paralyse. Curse Harpy and her devil fruit. Jyuri coated her rapier and arm with Busoshoku haki, and instantly retreated back before finding a new point to attack. But Jyuri knew it was futile. She was an assassin, and she had lost her element of surprise. Though, Jyuri thought to herself with a laugh. She did not have the element of surprise to begin with this time around. "An assassin as a pirate, truly laughable."

"Hotarubi," Ace's calm voice rang next to Jyuri. The small yellowish green fireballs surrounded the enemies, creating a small encasement around Harpy especially. "Acquaintance of yours, Chii?"

"No, but we do not have time to chat Captain." Jyuri replied calmly. "Try not to die."

"Hidaruma!" Ace sent all the small fireballs flying at Harpy, who easily dodged the attack. Jyuri grimaced internally. Ace was not yet strong enough to go against a Big Mom executive. She had to somehow get them out of the situation. Then Jyuri's thought process stopped. She had been stupid. Her solution was not going to come while thinking. Nyx was a creature capable of massacres. Jyuri only needed to stop thinking.

Jyuri attacked.

Her instincts took over as she swung her rapier at Harpy's side, only to change course right before and stab directly into Harpy's right eye. Harpy's shriek almost deafened her, but Jyuri's target was not yet dead. Her rapier pulled out the eye along with it as she prepared her next attack. An enraged, inhuman noise came from Harpy, before one of her long nails deflected Jyuri's blade that was aiming at her shoulder.

"Ace of the Spade Pirates, be my shield." Harpy's voice rang nice and clear through the battlefield. Jyuri stopped herself hard as the point of her rapier narrowly missed Ace's vital spot. "Pause all battle."

Everything stopped still. Jyuri snapped her thoughts back. The Spade Pirates were nowhere near the capabilities to stand Harpy's ability. Jyuri wanted to scream in frustration. She _knew_ she should've left before she indulged herself. Jyuri Glass could _not_ indulge. Jyuri Glass was a mere puppet of fate. She sheathed her rapier after shaking the eyeball off.

"Release the Spade Pirates." Jyuri said simply. Harpy glared at her with her remaining eye. Jyuri shrugged. "Your patron needs what I offer, and I am now willing to offer it."

"Oh, Nyx, you grew attachments." Harpy mused, as if forgetting that the girl had just pulled out her eye.

"Release the Spade Pirates." Jyuri repeated, and saw the life return to the Spade Pirates, all but Ace. "The man in front of you is the Captain."

"I know," Harpy snapped. "He's too untamed."

"Harpy, do not make me repeat my request for the third time." Jyuri said, walking up to Ace. She set a hand gently on his arm and disarmed the hypnotism, but held onto Ace's arm firmly. She whispered to him quietly. "Shall fate bless me once more, I shall meet you in the New World, Captain Ace."

* * *

Douglas looked at the crew that looked defeated. They _were_ defeated. And he knew so well that Ace took the most damage. Ace's tendency to not back down in fights couldn't even surface before their defeat, and the 17-year-old had locked himself up in his room ever since Jyuri disappeared. Douglas recalled the name the enemy had used to call Jyuri – Nyx.

It was an easily recognisable name. The name of the best assassin in existence. The heiress of Altair, an island in the New World known as the home of all assassins. And the enemy had without a single trace of doubt called Jyuri Nyx. And Jyuri had not corrected her. He walked into Jyuri's room, and discovered a bag, alongside a letter. It was addressed to his captain. Douglas took the bag, and made his way to Ace's room. He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Douglas." Douglas said and opened the door. He placed the bag and the letter beside Ace and without a word, left.

* * *

Ace opened the bag first. Inside sat a necklace made of large red beads, as well as a red and white striped bracelet. Then he reached the letter.

 _Captain, are you sulking in your room alone?_

 _Don't worry about me, in case, forget about me. Nyx of Altair is not someone Captain needs to remember. Not until Captain reaches the New World anyways._

 _I'm a little vexed, since I honestly really liked Captain, and your crew. But of course, good little Chii cannot help but be the pawn of fate. It was fun while it lasted. Jyuri thank you for that._

 _I got those at the last island we stopped by. I thought it suits Captain. But if you don't like it, then feel free to throw it away. It's all money from dead people anyways. That's who Jyuri is. And Jyuri is Nyx._

 _Ah, one last promise to Portgas D. Ace_

 _(Captain has finally taken a last name)_

 _Jyuri Glass, a.k.a. Nyx of Altair, swears by my trusty rapier, that if there is a day this humble self is required to turn her rapier against Portgas D. Ace, Jyuri Glass will end her own life before that requirement becomes a reality._

 _Captain, Chii really loved the crew._

Ace sighed at the letter.

Jyuri had known.

* * *

"By now, Douglas should've found the stuff, and given it to Captain." Jyuri muttered to herself as she showered. She also wished she could stay in the shower forever, since it was the only place she could not hear the shrieks of Harpy. But alas, she had to get out. Jyuri had already planned out her escape, but she could no longer return to the Spade Pirates. "Well, well, Jyuri Glass, you have fucked up."

Jyuri turned off the tap and patted herself dry. Her black hair dye was beginning to fade, and coming through was the curse of her mother. A bright pink shade unsuited to be an assassin. But that was not Jyuri's natural hair colour either. And she could find a way to rid of her mother's curse. She dressed herself and made her way out of the bathroom of the gigantic ship.

Returning to her ears were the shrieks of Harpy. Apparently, the eye that Jyuri had removed from Harpy's face was hurting again. Jyuri wondered why Harpy didn't just use her fruit power and hypnotised herself to not feel the pain. Maybe Harpy knew Jyuri didn't like shrieking. Jyuri made her way to the infirmary, where Harpy was, screaming.

"Harpy, here's a useful tip," Jyuri said, her expression passive and her voice devoid of emotion. "You have a devil fruit ability, use it."

"I do not need you telling me what to do, child." Harpy snarled. Jyuri shrugged and moved away from the infirmary. The shrieking stopped after a while however. Jyuri almost allowed herself to smile, but held back.

Her emotions were reserved for people she liked.

Her brother, Louis.

The Spade Pirates.

Her two friends.

* * *

Jyuri looked at the two months she spent onboard with Harpy and her subordinates and almost sighed. She found herself missing the fun and laughter of the Spade Pirates. She even found herself missing Ace's dumb nickname for her. Which, Jyuri thought to herself, she probably would hate to let Ace know. Well, she then thought to herself. She would most likely not see them again.

It was not the first time in the two months Jyuri had wanted to return to the Spade Pirates. It was a place she desired to return to more than her own homeland. But Jyuri reasoned with herself. Her return would only mean the Spade Pirates would get attacked once again. She knew all too well that Ace was someone who would do anything for the people he cared about. Which means, Jyuri concluded every time she thought of returning, she just needed Ace to be her enemy. The idea always left a bad taste in her mouth, but she convinced herself there was nothing she could do.

Jyuri walked into Harpy's private chamber wondering what the shriek lady would want with her again. The last time Harpy had wanted to see her at all was to kill a man who didn't get her to orgasm when they had sex. Jyuri really wanted to remind Harpy she was the best assassin in the world, not some sidekick who was subject to killing sexually incapable men. But of course, Jyuri had went out and took the life of that unfortunate man. Bloodthirst was her nature, and her weapon served as the best reminder to her that her living purpose was to kill.

She was the weapon her father wanted.

And by her hands, her rapier had drunk more blood than any other weapon of the Glass family. And that, Jyuri knew, was dangerous. Well, at least, she reasoned with herself. Her blade didn't get that much stronger from other peoples' blood. She would have to stab it through her heart for her blade to consume her mind. Which would mean, she would die and the blade will shatter, rending everything useless.

"Nyx, I need you to kill the crew I retrieved you from." Harpy commanded as she sat in the couch, studying her nails. Jyuri did not visibly react, but her brain felt like it was going to implode. Then explode. Because that's how those worked.

"Why?" Jyuri permitted herself to ask.

"Because," Harpy drew out the 'au' sound, and looked up at Jyuri. "You were so attached to them, so I can't have anyone I suspect to know your weaponry secrets alive, unless they are sided with Momma."

"Understood." Jyuri replied simply. Harpy seemed surprised.

"I would've thought, you would have been more against that."

"I am an Altair, we live for our weapons to drink blood." Jyuri replied simply, her tone remained passive. Harpy simply rolled her eyes, and Jyuri left the room.

Jyuri resisted the urge to just destroy the ship and let Harpy sink with all her dumb subordinates. But of course, she would be dead before she could finish them off. Assassination was very different from mass killing. And Jyuri's fruit powers was not helpful in mass killing. Or assassination for that part. She calmly made her way to the room given to her, her hand resting on the hilt of her rapier, and opened the door. Emptiness stared back at her, and she closed the door behind her. She had a vivre card for Melody and Raven both, and by the looks of it, Raven was back in Altair. Jyuri looked at Melody's vivre card. She was on the move.

That was a good sign.

Jyuri packed up all the clothes Harpy had taken the pleasure to allow her to buy, since apparently, Harpy liked seeing Jyuri in cute clothes. She found the irony entertaining. Jyuri of course, didn't understand Harpy's logic, since Harpy seemed to love her and hate her at the same time, but allowed herself to be dolled up in frilly dresses of all colours. Hiding the two pieces of vivre cards in her bra, Jyuri took the suitcase and left her room.

There was no one to see her off, which Jyuri was not surprised about; they were not her nakama. What Jyuri _was_ surprised about, was that there was a little boat prepared for her. And a log pose sitting in the middle of the boat. Jyuri merely blinked and tucked the log pose in one of her many pockets. That was that.

And she set sail.

Away from Harpy.

Away from the Spade Pirates.

* * *

 _Once again as I bathe in the glory of One Piece fanfiction popularity...I apologise for a somewhat short chapter. There was a need for me to do some shifting in the story and I became lazy...Not an excuse, but..._

 _Murasaki xx_


	6. Chapter 5

Jyuri tied the roped securely around the rock on the secluded beach, and silently slipped into the harbour. Melody was close, she could feel it, which meant, Melody would soon find her. And true to her prediction, Melody only took ten minutes to find Jyuri, who was enjoying a nice cup of tea in a café near the harbour, her hair colour was a vibrant pink. Melody smiled when she saw Jyuri.

"Jyuri." Melody greeted and sat down in the seat opposite to Jyuri. Jyuri offered Melody the cup, and Melody took a sip of the liquid. "Sweet."

"Had to feed this little one a little something." Jyuri gestured to her rapier. Melody frowned, but did not comment on Jyuri's actions, just simply returned the tea back to Jyuri. "How about, Mel, we go hunting again?"

"Big Mom, again?" Melody questioned, and Jyuri nodded. Melody frowned again. "Danger."

"I've got to, there are people I want to make sure reach at least Sabaody." Jyuri said, pressing a finger onto the table, sending Melody a code between the two. Spy from Harpy. Melody sighed. "Come on, it will be fun. And we can search for clues in the New World."

"Cannot, persuade Jyuri." Melody sighed and nodded. Jyuri set down the tea cup and a bag of Beri before both girls disappeared from where they were sitting.

When they appeared, they were in a back alley of town, Melody's katana stuck through a man's stomach while Jyuri's rapier was stuck through his throat. Jyuri pulled it out with a grin, mirroring Melody's own smile.

"I missed this." Jyuri commented as both of the girls rid their weapons of blood, and then proceeded to sheath them. "It would be better if Raven was with us."

"Send word." Melody suggested, but Jyuri shook her head.

"The person Raven is searching for has quite the history, I want to leave her to it, unless she wishes to join us." Jyuri said. "And we both know how Raven is."

"True."

"Hence, we should have her share of fun too." Jyuri said to her friend as both of them walked out of the alleyway. "I was travelling with Harpy before, so for her to get anywhere near us will take at least two weeks, since she doesn't like turbulent trips."

"Why?" Melody questioned.

"Because of the people that I want to get to Sabaody." Jyuri replied simply. Melody nodded, and Jyuri continued her train of thoughts. "But Harpy is not going to be aiming at us, which means, we need to go stalking people."

"Bad word."

"Not necessarily." Jyuri shrugged as she led Melody to the small boat she had secured. "We are going to head…oh crap, I forgot."

"Jyuri…" Melody knew what Jyuri had done, and she resisted a sigh. Jyuri was like that sometimes. "Full power, resonance."

"Mel, you're a lovely person, you know that?" Jyuri said as she felt all of Melody's devil fruit power flow into her. She concentrated and searched for the cheerful, yet melancholic sound of Ace, and soon, she felt the sound. She let all the power flow back into Melody and turned to Melody. "Let's go."

"Jyuri." Melody sighed and shook her head. Jyuri grinned apologetically before untying the rope.

* * *

"Seven o'clock, two." Melody's voice echoed in Jyuri's head.

"Roger." Jyuri replied in the same echo before she moved from where she was. A flash of pink was followed by two of Harpy's subordinates dropping dead. Melody came out from her own hiding place, and admired Jyuri's handiwork. It was so clean that the bodies didn't even bleed. It was one of those things Melody always admired about Jyuri. Jyuri was a genius by hard-work, but it didn't mean Jyuri was any bad at assassination without the hard-work. Geniuses were geniuses by default. Melody had only recently mastered the one-hit kill technique, and Jyuri had taught for her a solid ten years. Jyuri was nine when Melody met her. "Mel, you're spacing out again."

"Sorry." Melody snapped out of her thoughts and tuned herself in. There were no other disturbances, and she told Jyuri so.

"Cool, we can go rest a bit then."

"Your acquaintance." Melody pointed towards the town, and Jyuri frowned.

"They're not due in until tomorrow." Jyuri commented, and grabbed Melody's hand. She led them to the town. "You know what Mel, we will deal with that when we need to. For now, let's go and enjoy a bath."

"Ok." Melody replied as she let herself be dragged around by Jyuri. Jyuri was definitely in a better mood than she had been, which Melody was glad of. But the mention of the pirate crew Jyuri was with seemed to bring a darkness out from Jyuri. It was a sadness Melody had not seen Jyuri emit before. But she was not going to ask. Melody trusted Jyuri no matter how reckless Jyuri's actions may be.

* * *

Douglas felt that they were being watched. And it did not feel as if it was just one person. It was the same throughout the trip. He would feel the eyes on the growing crew, and then feel the eyes disappear, only to come back a while later. And it was weirding him out. Ram and Montag also felt the same problem, but their captain did not seem to care. There was a strange recklessness about Ace. Even more so than before.

Ace had left to a restaurant when Douglas saw Jyuri. Her black hair was now a vibrant pink, but Douglas recognised the girl without problems. He was out getting supplies for the crew. Douglas did a double take. Jyuri, who had hated anything dressy when she was with the Spade Pirates, was wearing a dress that made her look like a doll, and she was travelling with another girl. Douglas instantly recognised the other girl too. Melody, the Requiem. 900000 Beri bounty. Douglas paused.

He took several careful looks around the place. The woman they had suffered defeat from before was nowhere in sight. That was a positive. Halting his supply gathering, he decided to approach Jyuri. She was having tea alongside Melody, and he knew she had spotted him.

"Douglas." Jyuri greeted. Melody looked at Jyuri with eyes full of confusion. Jyuri turned to speak with Melody before Douglas could speak. "This is the first mate of the Spade Pirates."

"Melody." Melody simply greeted. Douglas nodded, slightly stunned.

"Douglas, do me a favour?" Jyuri spoke up.

"Huh?"

"It's not 'huh', Douglas." Jyuri chided. "Don't tell Captain that I'm here."

"Why?" Douglas questioned, forgetting his load of questions he thought he had for when he saw Jyuri again. Jyuri set down her cup of tea.

"Because Douglas, we are currently hunting." Jyuri replied. "So the Spade Pirates can actually get to Sabaody."

"What do you mean, Jyuri?"

"I ditched Harpy, and she really wants a bunch of people dead, and those people unfortunately, involves you guys." Jyuri said, and then pointed to Melody. "I ended up meeting up with Melody and are doing some hunting at the moment."

"You know we are strong, Jyuri."

"Not against pirates from the New World." Jyuri deadpanned. "Plus, at this moment in time, one of us can simply take out the entire crew." Jyuri paused, then corrected herself. "Maybe not Captain."

"Especially not Captain." Douglas agreed. He simply looked at Jyuri for a while before nodding. "I understand. But Jyuri?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you ever consider coming back?" Douglas asked. He missed having a little sister around, albeit she had subject him to the horrors of a corset. Jyuri blinked at Douglas, surprised.

"Nyx of Altair is hardly a good addition to a pirate crew, Douglas." Jyuri replied wistfully after a short silence. Melody looked at Jyuri disapprovingly, Jyuri merely shrugged at Melody. "I don't have to have a bounty for my enemies to recognise me."

"You will always be Jyuri to all of us." Douglas offered. Jyuri smiled.

"I will always be Jyuri because that is my real name."

* * *

"Mel, why are you looking at me like that?" Jyuri asked once Douglas left them to their own devices. Melody was looking at her friend with disapproval yet again.

"Belong."

"I don't need a place to belong, Mel." Jyuri replied. But of course, Melody wasn't letting Jyuri off this time.

"Hard to find."

"No matter how hard it is to find people who accepts me, at the end of the day it doesn't matter, Melody." Jyuri sighed. "I have more enemies than anyone can count, and I will always be a pawn of fate."

"Jyuri, has a choice."

"I do not." Jyuri's tone signified the end of that conversation. Though Melody was by no way satisfied with Jyuri's answer, she had to let it go. "Mel, I know you want me to do indulge myself. But there are people I made promises to."

"Not, indulging." Melody argued. Jyuri grabbed Melody's hands and held them to her forehead.

"For me they are." Jyuri whispered quietly. "My decisions always come with an unforgiving price."

Melody could not find it in herself to continue the conversation with Jyuri.

* * *

Ace fiddled with the red and white striped bracelet on his wrist. In the middle of his room laid a note, and he recognised the writing.

 _Potential threat at midnight. Beware._

Ace almost frowned. If Jyuri was close enough to know who was threatening him, or his crew, then she was close enough to return to the crew. Ace resisted setting the note on fire, as he had done with her other note. But of course, he was so sure he would demand a good reason for her actions the next time he saw Jyuri.

He had done his homework on the girl.

Nyx of Altair was the best assassin alive. Altair was the island of assassins. And she was the princess of that island. Rumours had it that she had massacred her entire family when she assumed power, and that there was not been a single target she had failed to kill. She was the living weapon of all those who wished the death of another. Emotionless. Bloodthirsty. A monster.

But that was not the Jyuri that the Spade Pirates, or Ace, knew. Ace knew Jyuri as a girl who refused to sleep or eat, but was incredibly fussy about the taste of the food when she ate, and always took his bed for reasons he was not too sure about. She also liked the crows' nest, and disliked extreme weathers. She was very human. She was everyone's little sister.

Ace tucked the note into his shorts pockets and laid his hat on the desk. He really wondered what Jyuri's potential threat entitled, given that they were in the middle of the ocean. But despite everything, he trusted Jyuri, which meant he was going to keep his guard up. Even if it was a little past midnight, and he had seen the note late.

He had just sat down onto his bed when a man emerged from the wooden planks, a blade aimed straight at his throat. Ace dodged, realising that the blade held a strange shade to it. He wasn't keen on finding out what it was. Ace knew quite well that the rest of his crew was possibly passed out, and he didn't particularly want to wake them. They were celebrating another bounty raise for Ace. Ace pointed his index and middle fingers of both hands at the man, shooting fire bullets, one of which the man managed to dodge but the other hit him on the side, near what Ace could tell was his lung.

A wave of killing intent washed over Ace as he pinned the man down onto the floor, sending the blade the man had been holding skidding across to the other side of the room. He turned his head to see a katana through another man in the same outfit as the first. A girl materialised. She had long black hair, and a pair of steel grey eyes. Ace remembered seeing her bounty poster.

Before he could say anything, Melody pulled her katana out of the man and wiped it gingerly on the man's clothing and promptly threw the man out of the window, into the ocean. Then she retrieved the blade that was across the room, and as if on cue, a den den mushi rang. Melody reached into her pocket.

"Poison, seems new." Melody said through. "Portgas D. Ace is safe, pinning down a man."

"Please tell him to throw the other one into the ocean too." Jyuri's voice came through the snail, a little faint. Melody sent a pointed look at Ace, who knocked the man unconscious and threw him out of the window too. "Did the blade touch him?"

"No." Ace replied instead. He was prepared to get mad at Jyuri.

"That's good, because that stuff really hurts." Jyuri replied, her voice a little weaker. Ace's anger disappeared. He understood why Melody had picked up the blade. Jyuri was poisoned. Then, as if once again reading his mind, Jyuri spoke again. "I'm ok because I'm used to poisons, but don't really want that to happen to Captain now."

"Jyuri, return." Melody cut in before Ace could say anything.

"Sure, maybe pick up a few medical books along the way. My memory isn't holding up."

"Gave away, again?" Melody asked, completely disregarding Ace as she made her way to the window.

"I guess you could…" Jyuri's voice faded out completely. Melody quickly tapped the snail three times, but no response.

"Jyuri?" Melody asked. Still, no response was heard. Melody quickly turned to Ace. "Doctor?"

"There's one of this ship." Ace suggested, not completely too sure what Melody was asking about. Melody nodded.

"Five minutes, back with Jyuri." Melody said, realising she had to speak in longer sentences, since not everyone understood her one word sentences. She jumped out of the window before Ace could get anything, leaving the blade on Ace's desk. But that didn't need explaining. He had five minutes to wake up Montag and have the man attempt to figure out what the poison is. And he did.

And five minutes later, gathered in the infirmary was Montag, who was wide awake studying the blade and the poison intently, as well as Ace, Melody, and an unconscious Jyuri. Jyuri's vibrant pink hair stared back at Ace as if trying to illuminate just how pale she was. Or it might've been the medical light, Ace wasn't too sure.

"Jyuri," Melody called quietly to the girl, as she had been since she returned. Ace didn't doubt Melody had been trying to get Jyuri to wake up on the way back either. But this time, Jyuri stirred a little. "Jyuri!"

"Mel, I know I said I was cold, but don't bring me to the sun." Jyuri joked, though her voice was incredibly faint. Melody almost scolded the younger girl. "I will be fine. It's not like it's the first time."

"My fault."

"Not at all Mel. And please don't get upset. Please, I survived Napalm." Jyuri said. Montag on the side dropped a vial. "Where are we?"

"Spade Pirates, I'm sure you've seen our new ship Chii." Ace replied.

"Mel, I gave you the sleeping agent for a reason." Jyuri said instead. Ace walked over and flicked Jyuri on the forehead. She winced. "It hurts, get me out of here, it hurts."

"Jyuri." Melody warned her friend, and Jyuri instantly quietened down.

"Montag, forget that Napalm comment." Jyuri said calmly. "I need you to try this. Mix hemlock powder with a cherry of the Doll's Eye."

"That's suicide." Montag replied, which earned a giggle from Jyuri.

"Just try it Montag, you will be surprised." Jyuri said. She waved a hand at Melody. "Melody, go help him, about, half a pinch of hemlock and one fruit."

"Form?" Melody asked.

"Liquid." Jyuri replied. "Captain, do me a favour and get me away from this light?"

"I can turn it off." Ace offered.

"Let's go with that." Jyuri complied, and Ace turned the light off. She seemed a little less pale, but a lot closer to death. "Ah much better. I hate it when things are too bright."

"Jyuri." Melody held the potion in front of Jyuri. She looked a lot less sure now that she had made it according to Jyuri's instructions, but she held it in front of Jyuri nonetheless. Jyuri nodded and tried to prop herself up, only to fall back onto the medical table. She groaned. Ace quickly lent her a hand, and helped her sit up. Melody put the cup to Jyuri's lips, and Jyuri downed the potion. "Unsure."

"A bit late, Mel." Jyuri replied as she leaned against Ace, who was right next to her. "I think it would work this time."

"This time? How many other times have you tried to mix deadly poisons together?" Montag questioned the girl. Jyuri smiled weakly.

"Well, I learnt the art of poison at seven, and Father's put me in some strange situations before. Ever heard of Nightshade?" Jyuri's tone was light, but Ace could tell from the expression of his crew's doctor that it was a lot more serious that she made it sound. "After overcoming two leaves of Nightshade, everything else is very mild, Montag."

"Your entire outlook on that is creepy Jyuri." Montag commented after a short silence, and Jyuri laughed in response.

"Jyuri, rest." Melody cut through before Jyuri could make more comments to annoy the Spade doctor. She looked at Ace, who nodded and scooped Jyuri up in a princess carry and moved her to his bed, knowing that the girl liked it better there.

"Ah I missed Captain's bed." Jyuri sighed softly as she was placed on the bed. Ace chuckled. "What, its comfortable, and smells like the sun."

"The sun?" Ace questioned. Jyuri giggled, her eyes dropping closed as she clung onto Ace's shirt.

"The sun, like Captain." Jyuri replied innocently, her usual maturity in her voice was gone. She actually sounded fifteen for the first time Ace has known her. Ace felt like he positively liked this Jyuri better. But he didn't say anything, simply pulled the covers on the girl, and left her to recover.

* * *

"Ace?" It was a girl's voice, and Ace knew for a fact Jyuri for one, would not be up, and for two, did not call him by his name. Melody, he deducted. He turned around and 'The Requiem' stared back at him. "Thank you."

"For saving Chii?" Ace asked, unable to decipher what the girl meant. Her short sentences did not make as much sense to Ace as it did to Jyuri. Melody looked at quizzically.

"Chii?" Melody asked.

"Jyuri." Ace replied simply. Melody looked at him for a second before giggling.

"Strange nickname, Jyuri didn't object?"

"She did, but then gave up." Ace shrugged. "It's not like she calls me by my name either."

"Captain." Melody agreed. Ace laughed.

"So, what was the thank you for?"

"Not doubting me." Melody said, her stormy eyes looking at him with what Ace deciphered as gratitude. Ace shrugged.

"You don't see any of us doubting Chii."

"Jyuri, has no bounty." Melody pointed out.

"She had a Big Mom's combatant after her." Ace countered.

"Point taken." Melody replied with a laugh. "Tell Jyuri, stop hunting."

"You can tell her that too you know."

"But Jyuri, listens to you." Melody replied. Ace raised an eyebrow quizzically, and Melody spoke again. "She liked Spades."

"What makes you think she would listen to people she likes?" Ace asked. Melody tilted her head to one side, and then after a moment of silence, spoke.

"Jyuri, follows orders." Melody said. "Habit."

"What do you mean?"

"From before, she left Altair." Melody tried. "Jyuri followed requests, without fail."

"As in, the assassination requests?" Ace asked. Melody shook her head.

"She cares, so she sacrifices." Melody offered. She studied the freckled captain before she saw the understanding slowly dawn on him. "Her fruit, helps."

"Her fruit? It's not logia?" Ace asked, surprise plastered on his face. Melody pointed to herself.

"I'm the logia." Melody said. "Oto Oto fruit."

"Then, what's Chii's ability?"

"It's, hard to explain." Melody frowned. "Jyuri can tell."

"She probably won't tell." Ace decided after a moment. Melody tried again.

"Equal exchange." Melody offered. "Eye for an eye."

"So, like, what's the word," Ace searched his brain for the word he had once read on a book Makino had given him. "Alchemist?"

"Yes!" Melody exclaimed, then clamped her hands over her mouth. Ace raised an eyebrow at the girl's actions. "Jyuri warned, loud noise is bad."

"You're an assassin too?"

"No," Melody shook her head. "Jyuri saved me."

"For allegedly the best assassin, Chii does a lot of saving." Ace laughed.

"Nyx, only kills." Melody warned. Ace obviously did not understand Melody. "Jyuri's darker self."

"Split personality?"

"No," Melody replied. "Jyuri's father's fault."

"I see." Ace muttered.

"Please try talk to Jyuri."

"I will try."


	7. Chapter 6

_Another really heart-warming review..._

 _I sit here and cries of happiness inside, but really, my expression remains passive and I continue to look dead inside. Author describing herself in a nutshell._

 _Thank you to **amgs** for the review! I'm really glad you like the story, and I'm the one who should be saying thank you for checking the story out~ Sneaky thanks to you for following my other story Drift of Wind as well 3_

 _ **IMPORTANT:** I just want to clarify, Jyuri, or as Chii is easier for people to remember, is not super powerful. She's an assassin, and assassination involves hiding and one hit kills. Because otherwise targets would most likely have loads of guards and the assassin would be dead. Jyuri is trained to hide, observe, find the point of time when her target is the weakest, and end their life. Not one on one confrontations or group fights, like a lot of pirates are. So if I've given her a legendary name, but she seems somewhat really a push-over, its that reason. Pirate and assassin are really two different job descriptions. _

_No one asked. Why did I explain...I'm super self conscious that people who say my character is inconsistent..._

 _*cries in the corner because of low self esteem*_

 _Please just read the story._

* * *

"Melody, I do not remember giving you permission to ask Captain to talk to me." Jyuri smiled as Melody walked into her room. Melody flinched, but calmed down when she saw Jyuri's smile. Jyuri looked positively better, even though she was slightly paler than before. Melody was sure with enough sun, Jyuri would recover to a healthier shade of pale.

"Sorry."

"No need to be, I'm feeling as pathetic as I look." Jyuri shrugged. Melody frowned, Jyuri meant she hasn't recovered? As if reading her mind, which Melody was sure Jyuri had used her powers to do that, Jyuri spoke. "A little secret between us, promise me Melody."

"How, why?"

"I removed the killing agent," Jyuri replied. "The pain agent is still in."

"I will go-" Melody started quickly, but Jyuri stopped her with a wave of her hand. "But-"

"Let it be my reminder that I should never let down my guard." Jyuri said softly. Melody shook her head. Jyuri smiled. "It doesn't even hurt that bad Mel."

"Jyuri!" Melody exclaimed.

"Melody, you can travel again." Jyuri's voice became even softer, as if she was making a decision she didn't particularly like. "No more hunting. I promise."

"Joining?"

"You could say," Jyuri said as Melody sat down on the edge of the bed, her hand grasping Jyuri's. Jyuri's hand was so cold. So incredibly cold. But Melody didn't comment. "I want to travel with them, for as long as fate allows me to."

"Jyuri can choose." Melody replied.

"Choices always comes with a price, Melody." Jyuri said, her gaze lingering somewhere at the door, though Melody knew Jyuri was thinking about something else. "And my choices are particularly expensive."

"Jyuri should not be sacrificed." Melody argued, touching her forehead to the other girl. Jyuri's entire existence was so cold, Jyuri felt like she was claimed by death.

"Someone had to be sacrificed, Melody." Jyuri replied. "I'm just glad it's not other people I care about."

"Too kind."

"Melody, there's a bag next to the door for you." And with that, Jyuri once again pushed Melody away from her. To a place far enough away from Jyuri Melody knew she would be safe from whatever storm may hit Jyuri. Melody resisted a frown. Jyuri was stubborn about certain things, and she was not going to argue with Jyuri. "If you see any of Big Mom's combatants, please run."

"I can clean up." Melody insisted. Jyuri shook her head slowly.

"Do not put yourself in danger." Jyuri said. "You are not a Glass."

"But I am your friend." Melody said, her first firmly formulated sentence in a long while.

"Melody, I thought, you promised no more sentences."

"Jyuri is worth it, since Jyuri," Melody picked up the bag. "You saved me."

* * *

"Chii, your friend is gone." Ace said as he entered the room. It was the room Jyuri had voluntarily moved herself into. It seemed that Jyuri no longer liked Ace's bed, which confused him, but he didn't ask. Jyuri was absorbed in a book which Ace could tell was something he prayed not to ever have to understand. Jyuri looked up from her book at the voice of the young captain, and nodded.

"I told Melody to leave, she has her own adventure to lead." Jyuri replied simply. She was still confined to bedrest, even though she had insisted that she felt fine. It also didn't escape Ace's notice that she was purposely avoiding contact with him. Half of her attention still retained on the book in her hands, but she seemed perfectly content with multi-tasking. "If Captain is wondering about the inventory list, I did that this morning."

"Confined to bedrest is on deaf ears." Ace complained as he closed the door behind him and took a seat next to Jyuri, who he knew was studying him with some of her attention.

"And I said I'm feeling completely fine." Jyuri deadpanned. "Doesn't that also fall on deaf ears?"

"Since when were you a doctor Chii?" Ace challenged. Jyuri closed the book in her hands and sighed.

"I am no doctor, Captain." She replied. "But, I know when I can walk around again."

"How about following the orders of the actual doctor?"

"As a suggestion from someone who is equally as bad when it comes to being stubborn, I choose not to take the suggestion." Jyuri replied. Ace noted how the girl's attitude had become colder since her recovery. It was sometime Ace had wanted to ask the girl about, but she was so pale she looked like she would shatter if she had to hold a confrontation.

"What are you reading?" Ace gave up. He didn't want that confrontation, though he was usually not one to run away from something. Jyuri looked at the freckled boy with interest, but decided to answer his question by holding up the book. _The Art of Resource Management_. Ace frowned. "Where did you get that from?"

"I had Melody nick it for me." Jyuri shrugged, putting the book down as if holding it up for more than five seconds tired her out. She pointed half-heartedly to a stack of books in the corner of the room. "And those as well, since I'm apparently confined to bed rest."

"You're not even resting properly." Ace put a hand on Jyuri's head and ruffled her hair. The silky pink strands started to mess up as he ruffled, but Jyuri, unlike before, did not move his hand. In fact, she looked content. "That's a first."

"What?" Jyuri asked.

"Your hair is in knots."

"Captain's fault." Jyuri shrugged, though she looked evidently annoyed that Ace had removed his hand. Then Ace realised something strange. The girl's body temperature was so much lower than he was used to. His hand flew to her forehead, where he came into contact with the single coldest human being. She felt as if death had claimed her. Jyuri quickly slapped away his hand and avoided eye contact.

"You're…" Ace was at a loss for words. After a while, Jyuri looked up and looked as if she was just done.

"Not healed. Yes, I know," Jyuri deadpanned. Her hand moved and grabbed his. It was the same coldness. "Sequela from the poison. And no, Montag will not be able to help, as skilled as he is."

"Why did you keep quiet?"

"It's a reminder Captain," Jyuri said in a soft voice. "It's my reminder that I should never let my guard down again."

"Anything else?"

"If Captain is asking about the sequela, then," Jyuri paused, as if debating whether or not to tell Ace. And then decided she will. "Constant pain, and I feel frozen."

"And you want that to stay with you?" Ace asked incredulously. Jyuri nodded, closing her eyes.

"I feel like, I have grown complacent." Jyuri replied. Then she smiled and opened up the book again. "I would like Captain to issue my release from the perpetual hell of bed rest, in order so that I can train with Captain."

"Why?"

"Because," Jyuri started, a small grin on her face. "No pain no gain. Captain needs to be strong enough to take out Harpy by the time we get to Sabaody."

"And why am I going to listen to you, Chii?"

"I'm your lovely crew-member?" Jyuri offered. Ace looked unconvinced. She tried again, blinking her large, heterochromatic eyes at him. "I'm your little sister?"

"You said you didn't want to be."

* * *

Despite everything, Jyuri received a sceptical release the next day from Montag, who was looking at the pale girl on the bed as if she would shatter. Jyuri really wished people would stop looking at her like that. She was Nyx of Altair, not a damsel in distress. The Spade Crew had accepted her back with no questioning. Douglas had simply flicked her on the forehead before grunting a welcome back. And Jyuri was happy to hear that. The only other place she would hear a welcome back, Jyuri knew, was from her brother. She skipped down the now larger hall way in search of the Spade Captain.

She greeted new members of the crew. It had grown bigger since she was last traveling with the crew. And she was ever so glad those people decided to follow Ace. Ace was a brilliant captain. Though, as they approached Sabaody by the day, Jyuri knew he was not yet strong enough for the New World.

She opened the door for the navigation room without knocking, since she knew all too well that the people in there would not tell her off for it. In case, she mused, everyone seemed way too nice to her to tell her off. Probably because they were scared she would shatter. Again, Jyuri wanted them to think of her more than a damsel in distress. Ram and Damien were inside the navigation room. Ram was looking over a map while Damien was fixing a small crack in the walls.

"Jyuri!" Ram greeted. "Why are you up?"

"I am officially released from the perpetual hell of bed rest." Jyuri replied. Ram looked sceptical. "Everyone seems to forget that I'm Nyx of Altair, not a damsel in distress."

"You look pale enough to pass for a ghost." Damien commented.

"I've had worse." Jyuri frowned. "Where's Captain?"

"He's in the training room." Ram replied. "Below deck, there's a trap door in the corridor to our left."

"Thanks Ram." Jyuri smiled and existed the navigation room. Finding the trap door, she entered the training room just as Ace threw a fire lance. His shirt was nowhere to be seen. The room was very warm. Which one, didn't bother Ace, and two, made Jyuri smile. She closed the trap door very quietly, and sneaked up on Ace. Her hand touched Ace's shoulder, and the next second Ace had aimed a fire lance at her throat, though Jyuri easily skipped away. "Captain, your control has gotten better."

"I do not remember Chii being able to move so quietly." Ace grinned, as if the idea of fighting Jyuri was now incredibly fun. Jyuri shook her head with a smile.

"How do you exactly carry out assassinations without the ability to move quietly again?" Jyuri asked the freckled captain, whose grin only grew wider, but a little red coloured his cheeks. "But we're not really fighting today Captain. There's something else I want to explain to Captain before we reach Sabaody."

"What is it?"

"It's the concept of Haki." Jyuri started. "Essentially, there are three types of Haki that exists, though, admittingly I can only help Captain develop two of the three."

"Chii, you're meaning to say, there is another type of Haki that can overpower these two?" Ace asked as he sat down on the ground of the training room. Jyuri looked at his with eyes filled with amusement, which by now, Ace had learnt was not a good thing. She was ruthless when training. If not before, then definitely now. Jyuri nodded and sat down next to him, looking completely fine, as opposed to Ace's panting figure.

"There is the Conqueror's Haki," Jyuri explained. "It's very rare, though I suspect Captain might have it."

"What does it do?"

"Render the weak-willed unconscious." Jyuri replied simply. "Those who have it has the qualifications to be a king."

"Why would Chii think I have it?" Ace asked.

"Because I am very good at reading people." Ace saw through the lie immediately. It was one of those things he had grown to be able to tell about the girl. "That's not a complete lie Captain. I am not Nyx of Altair only by name."

"What did you have to exchange for the ability to read minds?" Ace laughed. Jyuri looked at him for a while.

"How does Captain know?" She asked. "About my ability."

"Melody told me."

"Mel?" Jyuri questioned. Then laughed. "Well, I don't exactly read minds." Jyuri paused for a while, searching for a good explanation. "It's Melody's Oto Oto Fruit. Captain's heartbeat changes when you experience different emotions."

"How did you even end up with Melody's power?" Ace questioned.

"It used to be my sister's fruit, and I promised her that her power would be of use to me before she passed away." Jyuri replied, her tone light. "Using the power of my fruit, I managed to share the fruit's power with Melody."

"What did you exchange for that?" Ace asked.

"Sensitivity." Jyuri whispered. Then in a louder voice, she explained. "I am twenty times more sensitive to anything that requires the sense of feel." Ace was aware of Jyuri watching him, and he slowly understood what she meant. Before Ace could say anything however, Jyuri put a finger to his lips. She still felt frozen even in the room where he had just hurled fire everywhere. "I'm fine now, no point worry about it."

"What other stupid things have you done to yourself?" Ace asked. Jyuri almost laughed.

"That's another story for another time Captain." Jyuri said with a smile. "For now, let's get you some food."

* * *

 _I feel like...I have made Jyuri's power really difficult to describe. Also as a matter of fact, I have no idea what to call her fruit. Good job me.  
or as Shiro would put it..._

 _Super...Good job. *glint in her eyes*_

 _There are no two syllable Japanese sounds or words for alchemy. Or equal exchange._

 _I will just never name it._

 _It doesn't need a name. It just needs a function._

 _I hate naming._

 _Murasaki xx_


	8. Chapter 7

_I only realised this chapter is quite a bit longer than usual when I copied and pasted into this website. Also I think I will start talking about Jyuri's past soon. The plot is screaming at me to write it, meanwhile I procrastinate by playing Otome games and re-reading manga that I've re-read at least four times already. I feel vague hollowness because sometimes I realise how I must end this story because canon stories are...well, canon._

 _I am tired from work, what is this rambling._

 _Enjoy the chapter lovelies._

* * *

 _"Jyuri, protect them."_

Jyuri watched as her mother's image faded from her dream.

 _"They will never be as good as my Nyx."_

Her father's cold whispers faded in, then out. She found herself unable to give him a face in her dream.

 _"Onee-chan, take my power."_

Ume, her sister's pale face stared at her. She remembers making her first big sacrifice. she also remembers her struggles as she failed to even breathe.

 _"Free us, Nee-chan."_

Louis' screams as he was put through the same training as herself.

Then blood.

She was being suffocated with blood as it filled the room she found herself rooted in. she was aware that it was a dream. Though, Jyuri doubted she wanted to move even if it was real. She has long since desired the sweet embrace of death. But she must suffer on. Only her suffering could protect those around her.

 _"Mr. Rayleigh, do you think your captain had a child?"_

 _"Why do you ask, Jyuri?"_

 _"Because, if they exist, I want to meet them."_

 _"That hardly explains anything, child."_

 _"Both with fathers that has caused the misfortune of many, I feel like we would get along really well."_

Jyuri's eyes snapped open. She had not dreamt about her time training with Silvers Rayleigh in a long time. Much less dream about the weird conversation her eleven-year-old self had with Rayleigh. She was in Ace's bed, but she was not surprised she was alone. She had crawled in the night before at three in the morning, and by the light in the room, it was near lunch. She let her mind wake up a little before deducing why she would've dreamt about Silvers Rayleigh.

They were drawing closer and closer to Sabaody.

In the end, Rayleigh never told Jyuri whether Gol D. Roger ever had a child. But Jyuri was not one to press for information. Though, as Jyuri thought about it, it would make more sense for the child to be dead than alive. Jyuri slowly dragged herself out of the warm, comfortable covers, and she heard yelling.

They had arrived at Sabaody.

* * *

Jyuri's first instinct was to find Rayleigh for the coating. But then she remembered she had left without a word, and both Shakky and Rayleigh had all the reasons to not want her back. Jyuri snapped to her senses and promptly set down her web of frequency sonar. She expected Harpy to be at Sabaody. And true enough, she detected Harpy's shrieking ten groves removed. Quickly throwing on her clothes, she had gotten back her nice blouses and short shorts, Jyuri made her way onto the deck. She ran straight into the well-built chest of Ace.

"Chii, I was just about to wake you up." Ace greeted.

"There's two things Captain," Jyuri started quickly. "The first is that I know someone who does impeccable coating. And the second is that I need to go hunt down Harpy before she gets us."

"Chii, slow down." Ace offered, and put a comforting hand on the girl's head. Jyuri frowned at him, but took a deep breath.

"Harpy is ten groves over." Jyuri explained. "And she's going to be very intent on killing whoever I'm with."

"So, we go hunt her down first?" Ace asked.

"Well, yes and no." Jyuri said after a short pause. "I will give Captain directions, and Captain go attempt to find the man who does good coating. I will go and attempt to kill Harpy. I have the element of surprise this time."

"Nope, Chii is moving together with me." Ace rejected with a wide grin. Jyuri frowned, trying to pull her wrist from the hold of Ace. "Douglas and Ram especially said not to let Chii run off alone again."

"I don't particularly want to see Rayleigh." Jyuri complained as she was dragged off the ship. Ace paused a little. "I left him and Shakky without leaving a note or anything, it's going to be so awkward."

"Rayleigh?" Ace asked. Jyuri stopped complaining for a moment and nodded.

"It's who you think it is Captain." Jyuri said, and then sensing something wrong with Ace, she spoke again. "Ok here's a compromise."

"What compromise?"

"We both go hunt down Harpy. And once she is dead, we send Douglas to Rayleigh. Or we can send Douglas while we're hunting." Jyuri offered. She honestly did not want to see Rayleigh. Ace nodded instantly. "Ok, but Captain is going to have to follow my instructions for this adventure."

"Teaching me assassination tricks?"

"It might come in handy, who knows?" Jyuri replied.

* * *

The pair had separated once they were in the café. Harpy's regular shrieks were annoying Jyuri, but she reined in her thoughts and emotions. Ace was on standby in a nearby alley and Jyuri knew she only had one chance. Ace had not yet mastered Haki to withstand Harpy's devil fruit power, which meant that is she failed, then they were all going to die. And that would make her entire past five years very pointless. Jyuri saw the waiter carry the tea to Harpy, and allowing herself to borrow Melody's fruit powers, Jyuri slipped a powder into the tea.

Only a flash of discolouration in the air.

Jyuri observed carefully as Harpy unsuspectingly drank the liquid. She was really glad that the younger her with the memories of chemical developments had decided to turn Christmas rose into a powder that removed vocal activities. Though she could not remember both _how_ she had done it, or _why_ she had done it. But she was glad.

Jyuri slipped out of her hiding place once she was sure Harpy had more than a cup of the tea. Waiting was something Jyuri knew how to do. Assassination was waiting. Jyuri specialised in waiting.

She sat down at the same table as Harpy. Harpy looked up at Jyuri with one eye.

"You seem to be failing your job, Nyx." Harpy mocked. Jyuri shrugged, but did not reply. "Or is it that, you have betrayed us?"

"Betrayal is a strange word, Harpy." Jyuri replied, her tone void of emotion. "I do not remember ever siding with you."

There was no response as Harpy lashed out. Jyuri had always wondered why Harpy did not use her fruit ability all the time. It was one of those things that Jyuri thought would be like second nature to Harpy. But, it seemed, Harpy had a brain. No matter how slow it functioned.

Jyuri was very careful as she took the fight outside. Part of her had even done the café a service by replacing the broken furniture. Of course, the lawless area _did_ mean that their fight was not going to be interrupted, but they were drawing lots of attention. Jyuri knew why. The world knew a Big Mom combatant like they knew the job of a marine, and Harpy was not exactly, well, _not-flashy_. But Jyuri could work with that. It would require certain degrees of memory tampering, but Harpy being flashy was something she could definitely work into Ace's favour.

"You can't keep running-" Harpy's thrill voice cut out abruptly. The poison took effect. She grabbed her own throat, and the realisation dawned on her face as Jyuri blocked off the dead-end alleyway. Harpy's face twisted into a scowl.

"Oh Harpy, your treasured voice has finally failed you." Jyuri mocked as she blocked a sharp nail of Harpy's. Harpy's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. But Jyuri understood Harpy's words. "Oh no, Harpy, didn't your patron tell you? Nyx of Altair is deadly."

"Chii, you can stop mocking her now." Ace jumped down from the top of the building, landing next to Jyuri as she twisted Harpy's arm behind her and disabled her movements. "This was the woman who beat us before?"

"Well, in a sense." Jyuri replied simply and placed a rope on Harpy's wrists. "Bind." The rope turned instantly into sea-stone cuffs and snapped onto Harpy's wrist. "Well, for now, let's g-" Jyuri's sentence was cut off by one of Harpy's long nails sticking through her stomach.

"Hotarubi." Ace quickly surrounded Harpy with the small balls of fire as Jyuri pulled herself back. It was not a big wound, but it was dangerously close to Jyuri's lungs.

"Captain, wait." Jyuri said quickly. She ripped a strip of off her cape, and tied it roughly over the hole next to her lungs. "We're going to make an example of this bird."

"Chii, you alright?"

"Missed my lung Harpy," Jyuri replied indirectly, and kicked Harpy on the butt. She had indirectly pushed out the muted Harpy out of the alleyway and into the public. Though, no one dared to send Harpy aid once Jyuri walked out quickly behind her, arms crossed in front of her. Just as Harpy tried to escape, a bunch of greenish yellow fire balls exploded around her face. There was no scream, but Jyuri could almost see the shriek from Harpy. Jyuri reached over and grabbed Ace's dagger out of its green sheath. In a low voice, she spoke to Ace. "Captain, please set her on fire the moment I pull the dagger out." And then Jyuri walked over so that she was facing Harpy.

"Now we shall set an example, for the world." Jyuri said quietly as she placed the dagger at Harpy's throat. Harpy, despite trying to put up a brave front, was incredibly afraid. But Jyuri did not let that bother her. "37 attempts at Captain's life." She pressed the dagger into Harpy's skin, drawing blood. "I will let you have the knowledge that you have successfully lodged a poison in me however, since you look quite pathetic right now." Jyuri said then. "Goodbye." Jyuri spun the dagger and stabbed it clean through Harpy's throat. She promptly pulled the dagger out and turned around. There was no blood from the dagger wound as Harpy's now dead body was set ablaze.

"Chii, should we get that looked at?" Ace pointed to the side that Jyuri was holding as she walked towards him. She shook her head and pulled out something in her pocket. It was a pocket watch. A pocket watch she had taken from Rayleigh when she left. Jyuri mused at it for a second, before she pressed the pocket watch to her wound.

"I guess, it's time for Captain to finally witness my power." Jyuri said. Ace decided not to mention how Jyuri had just turned rope into sea stone cuffs. "Heal." The girl said simply and the pocket watch disappeared. "Ah, my blouse also got replaced."

"Because the pocket watch was worth _more_?" Ace asked. Jyuri looked at him with a light frown.

"Because I don't take injuries very seriously." Jyuri replied after a while. "You've seen the scars, Captain."

"And you couldn't have done the same thing with the poison?" Ace asked.

"The stakes were too high." Jyuri replied, as if that explained anything. But Ace didn't press on. "Come on Captain, let's go have some fun. Sabaody is a cool place."

"Cool place?"

"Amusement parks are a thing." Jyuri said. "Just try hiding valuables."

"Amusement parks?"

"Captain, tell me you know what they are." Jyuri looked at Ace, her eyes wide with surprise. Perhaps the first bit of genuine surprise Ace had ever seen from the girl. He shrugged, and promptly felt Jyuri's small hand grab his as she pulled him along. "You are missing out, Ace."

Ace really wanted to ask why 'amusement parks' guaranteed Jyuri calling him by his name, but decided to let Jyuri do as she please. She was often the one putting up with his tendencies after all.

* * *

"According to the shop owner, the person who does coating has been missing in action for a few months." Douglas told Jyuri as he passed her the piece of paper back to her. Jyuri nodded and took the paper, tucking it into her pocket. Douglas also brought out a package and passed it to Jyuri. "The shop owner said to give you this."

"What?" Jyuri's attention snapped back to Douglas and the package in his hand. She gingerly took the package, and then opened it. Wrapped in the most girly dress under the packaging were countless tiny vials of what Jyuri recognised to be poison. She had left them behind, but apparently, with Shakky's incredible information gathering skills, she was to get them back. There was also a note underneath the vials. She did not want to read the note. "Thank you, Douglas."

"What are those vials?" Douglas asked the girl. She smirked.

"Poison." Jyuri replied.

"What?" Douglas asked in slight alarm, taking a subconscious step back from the girl. Jyuri laughed.

"Back when I held the knowledge of poisons, I had a lot of fun making different things." Jyuri shrugged. "I'm not gonna use them on the crew, don't worry."

"No, I'm not worried about that, but Montag was saying you were poisoned before and…" Douglas trailed off and Jyuri caught onto what he was saying. She smiled.

"It's ok now, plus, I no longer remember anything about making poisons so, rest assured, first mate." Jyuri said with a pat on the shoulder. She did not look overly happy about having to be on her tippy toes however, but she swallowed her own complaints. "And the good thing is, I might be able to find something to counteract the thing in my body in here."

"Well, that's always a start." Douglas looked worried at Jyuri's bed where she had carelessly dumped all the vials of poison. Jyuri followed his gaze and laughed.

"They won't open, even if you smash them against a rock." Jyuri said and made her way out of her room. "I'm going to the casino, please don't look for me."

"Jyuri, are you just going to leave those things there?"

"Why not?"

a mischievous shrug.

* * *

"I thought I would find you here, Grandpa." Jyuri sat down silently behind the man she had spotted the moment she entered the casino. In his hands was a poker hand, and it was a pretty bad poker hand. Rayleigh was truly unlucky sometimes. Or well, Jyuri recounted, most of the times. Rayleigh didn't cast a glance her direction, but she knew by the way he shifted slightly, he recognised her. She looked around the table and almost smiled to herself, those were true amateurs in cheating. Or at least to her, they were.

"My little alchemist, came to save me?" Rayleigh laughed, and Jyuri smiled her most charming smile at the table of players. At least it wasn't super awkward.

"Would anyone mind if I took over for my grandfather?" She asked sweetly. She saw some of them smirk and the dealer waved indifference. They did not know who she was. Rayleigh passed her the hand and she moved up a little to sit next to him. She had left her rapier behind in the hotel room, and that was now slightly unsettling.

She had expected to take over Rayleigh.

But she had not played in a very long time.

However, as she played, she discovered that there really had been no gap in her skills. They didn't even suspect that she was cheating. Though, she thought logically, she looked generally ten, and wore her most charming smile. If that didn't win people over, then nothing did.

"You're good, young lady."

"You flatter me," Jyuri smiled as she casted a glance at the pile of chips she had won back. It was a good time to take Rayleigh and bail. She made a show fishing out the new pocket watch she had gotten, and then gasped. "I was meant to come get Grandpa for a client! Sorry misters, I'm going to have to bail."

"Smart young lady, bailing just when you've got loads of them." One of the guys laughed and pointed at the chips. Jyuri picked up the pile of largest value, and then gestured to the rest.

"We don't need that much money to begin with, misters can have them back." She said, and then grabbed Rayleigh's hand and dragged him along with her.

"So, my little alchemist returns." Rayleigh smiled. Jyuri looked at the bag of Beri in her arms, and then passed it to Rayleigh. "You won them."

"It's payment." Jyuri said quickly, and pressed the bag to Rayleigh until he held it securely. "There's a ship I would like to ask Mr. Rayleigh to coat."

"Oh? You're keeping a ship this time?"

"No, it's for the Spade Pirates, I'm staying with them at the moment." Jyuri replied. She was so glad he didn't ask her why she had left. Rayleigh looked at Jyuri searchingly, but whether he found his answer in her expression, Jyuri could not tell.

"Sure, Jyuri." Rayleigh's response came in the form of a hearty laughed. Jyuri smiled brightly at the person she genuinely wished was her grandfather. "The little alchemist has finally found a home for herself after all."

"It's not my home, Mr. Rayleigh." Jyuri replied quietly. "Anywhere besides Altair cannot be my home."

"It's about time you let family faults go, don't you think?"

"Most of them are not family faults, Mr. Rayleigh." Jyuri replied, and dug out a slip of paper in her pocket. "The details of the ship are on the slip of paper, the first mate should be there tomorrow, so you can talk to him about the rest."

"Not going to go see Shakky?"

"I should go see if Captain's fallen asleep in the middle of his meal again." Jyuri replied and bowed deeply. "I never got to say this when I left, but thank you for your care, Mr. Rayleigh."

"There's nothing to thank me for, Jyuri."

"Then allow me to apologise," Jyuri interrupted quickly before Rayleigh could say anything else. "I have failed to master the power you had taught me."

"You couldn't master it?"

"I guess, that's not the correct way to convey that." Jyuri thought for a while. "I couldn't see a need for it, so I exchanged it."

"Was it worth it?"

"Of course, my fruit thought so." Jyuri replied with an almost unhinged smile. She saw a flash of unease across Rayleigh's face. "It's fine, it's for the sake of Louis."

"You're letting yourself be the monster your father wanted you to be."

"For the sake of Louis, that's fine."

* * *

"Exactly why is Captain so drunk?" Jyuri muttered to herself as she laid him onto the bed of the hotel. Ace was, for the first time she had seen him, completely drunk. And he was asleep after accidentally setting a table on fire. She had promptly put out the fire, paid for the table, and left with Ace before the owner could say anything else.

There was also something about Ace's mood after she told him the person she was looking for was Silvers Rayleigh that really unsettled Jyuri as well. According to Ace's stories about where he had set sail from, there was no way he could've been acquainted with Rayleigh before. So that was not a possibility.

What was his mood then?

Jyuri decided that it was too late and she could spare to think about it later. Now that Harpy was taken care of, Big Mom was not going to take a risky move against her or Louis. She could spare some time to relax a little. She picked up the copy of _The Art of Resource Management_ and sat down on the bed, next to Ace.

She had a really distinct feeling that she was going to need it in the future.

* * *

 _Things are going to be explained, sit tight. But I feel like it's a predictable pattern in these stories, but as the author it's morally incorrect for me to give spoilers...right? Anyways, hope you liked the chapter, and I will go sit in the corner while I wonder if I will end up miss explaining one of the many things I laid foundation for. I forget when my birthday is, who am I kidding I will forget. Send me reviews to tell me off if you notice anything, (sometimes maybe I am an M)._

 _I thought I wanted to keep things G._

 _Murasaki xx_


	9. Chapter 8

_I cannot stop listening to Bang Bang Bang. I need help._

 _To dear **amgs** , word of warning, this is going to be a long reply. But I felt that proper words of reply was required.  
_

 _And to anyone interested in the furture of this plot and the character of Jyuri, feel free to read this - what used to be - half a page of really bad writing in mechanical pencil._

 _First, let me start by saying that I'm super glad that ( **amgs** ) you like the interactions, it's incredibly motivating for someone to say that, especially since I love writing Ace and Jyuri's interactions myself. Now for Jyuri's character, I understand that she might seem selfless to a surreal extent, which frankly, I can say is part of what makes this fiction and not, you know, real. Though more frankly I wish Ace was real. I guess my understanding of many characters in One Piece is that they are quite extreme in their beliefs and whatnot. Which is partially why Jyuri is as...surreal as she might seem. But at the same time I wanted to construct her to be a character who gradually interacts with other characters in a more 'Jyuri' way, rather than the 'Nyx' way she currently interacts in. If that makes any sense at this point of the story. I do think, regardless of how the plot progress, Jyuri will never fully be rid of 'Nyx', just as we as normal people brings with us parts of our childhood as we grow into adults. Though, I can frankly say that I think all Jyuri's sacrifices are now in her past, and despite how selfless she may seem, there is an ultimate darkness to her that she's suppressed. I am going to talk about her past within the chapter and the next few, which means this entire paragraph of rambling will make more sense. I will apologise in advance however, because I have the ending of this story in my head already, and I'm really not one of stray from major events in the canon story. But I do have the plans to do two endings, because Oda-sensei will not give us nice feels, and I'm a fanfiction writer. The point is, I can try my best not to break anyone's heart too much (everyone I know in real life says I'm 100% dead inside so I have no emotions apparently but what is this flowing out of my eyes every time I get to One Piece Chapter 574?), but ultimately we all know what will happen...  
_

 _Anyways, let's move on._

 _I'm a horrible human being. IDK_

* * *

Jyuri woke up feeling warmer than she had in quite a while. And she quickly discovered it was because Ace was sleeping next to her.

Because she had put him there the night before.

It made sense.

Though, Jyuri mused to herself, she was really letting down her guard when she was with the young captain. And that really wasn't a good thing. The large volume of _The Art of Resource Management_ was in her lap, and she had fallen asleep while reading it.

"Oh well, I'm still alive." She muttered to herself as she set the book onto the bedside table and got out of the bed. Away from the warmth that she knew her body craved.

 _"Never let yourself become complacent, be aware even if you feel as if you will die."_

The cold wasn't going to kill her, but she didn't really see the point of being hyper aware next to a sleeping seventeen-year-old who probably was going to wake up with a bad case of headache. She decided she was going to just let Ace sleep, and go down to the kitchen of the hotel to see if they would let her whip something up to cure an oncoming hangover. Then she would see if there was some mysterious way for her to distract Ace from the ship. She still didn't quite like his mood from the day before.

With her mind pulling up a schedule for the day, she took out some fresh clothes and began changing. Until of course, her keen ears picked up on the change in breathing from the other occupant of the room.

Oh boy, she had forgotten about the chance Ace would wake up before she was gone.

"Captain, for your information, you set fire to a table while being super drunk last night." Jyuri told him in a soft voice, knowing that loud noises will make his hangover worse. "And then I paid for the replacement before dragging you up here."

"Chii, could you maybe remember to change somewhere else next time?"

"Captain, you could just turn around." Jyuri sighed. "And you know, this is my room."

"I don't think that's the problem here Chii."

"And I don't know what your point is, Captain." Jyuri replied and finished buttoning up the last button on her blouse. She turned and strapped her trusty rapier to her side and looked at Ace.

Definitely hungover.

But the mood was still there.

"Come to think of it, where did you even go last night, Chii?" Ace sat up and put a hand to his head. Jyuri halted her steps to the door and turned to look at him.

"The casino, I was looking for Mr. Rayleigh." Jyuri replied truthfully. An unexplainable expression crossed Ace's features, but disappeared within an instant. Jyuri decided to ask. "Captain, do you have something against Mr. Rayleigh or something?"

"That's the first time Chii's asked anyone from the crew something about themselves."

Jyuri just looked at Ace, and attempted to brush a comb through all the memories she shared with the Spade Pirates. And Ace was right. How he had actually noticed, was beyond Jyuri, but some part of her was glad he noticed.

"Privacy is an important part of life." Jyuri opted. "I respect that everyone has their secrets, and I never know when I might touch upon that."

"But you decided to ask just then."

"Which was clearly a mistake." Jyuri said quickly and opened the door. "I'm going to go see if I can grab anything to help with hangovers."

She had let him dodge the question.

Emotional connection was still somewhat beyond her.

Some part of her remained curious however, to the answer of the question.

* * *

"Captain, where were Douglas and everyone else last night?" Jyuri questioned as she set a cup of ginger tea in front of Ace. Ace looked at her as if he was trying to decide whether she had asked to tease him or asked in genuine confusion. "I'm asking because I cannot find them."

"Chii, they're men." Ace replied dismissively. Jyuri's brain, as alert as it was, was not clicking the information into place.

"I am aware."

"They went to a brothel." Ace told Jyuri after a long pause. Jyuri froze for a split second, and mouthed 'oh'. Her question for Ace as to why he didn't also go was caught at the tip of her tongue, and she swallowed it. Curiosity was not a good thing to her.

"Captain, I need to head to _Spadille_ for a bit, would you like me to get anything for the ship?" Jyuri opted.

"I will go with you."

"No, you won't." Jyuri said. "You look like you've been hit by a truck Captain."

Jyuri also left out the fact that she didn't particularly want Ace to see Rayleigh. For whatever reason Rayleigh changed his mood. She liked the grinning and goofy Ace. The two teens stared at each other for a while, each making their point, before Ace shrugged.

"You don't need to get anything." He told her and took a sip of the ginger tea. "But why do you need to go there in the first place?"

"Because I was going to ask Douglas, but I can't find him."

"For what?"

"To talk to Mr. Rayleigh." Jyuri told him and suddenly remembered the vials of poison she had left on the bed last night. "Captain, did I by any chance accidentally set you on top of some vials?"

"These things?" Ace asked, showing her one of the vials. Hemlock. Great.

"Yes," Jyuri replied. "It would be great if you could move them somewhere before going to sleep once more."

"What are they?"

"You don't want to know." Jyuri opted and opened the door. "I should be back within the hour, if not, please don't freak out, I probably just met someone I know."

"You came here often?"

"It's the stopping point if I had a job outside of the New World." Jyuri told Ace, and received a nod. She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

* * *

"Jyuri-sama?" Jyuri recognised the voice. She also recognised the footsteps. Silent and deadly, the same as her own when Jyuri was not purposely making noise when she walked. Jyuri turned and saw one of her brother, Louis', personal maid, May. May's pair of honey brown eyes greeted her warmly. May was excited to see Jyuri. "Jyuri-sama, when was the last time we've seen you, I missed you."

"I thought I was bound to see one of you in Sabaody." Jyuri smiled. May hugged her, but Jyuri made no move to hug the other girl back. May didn't seem to mind however.

"We received news that Big Mom had lost contact with one of her executives, and Louis-sama sent me to see if it was Jyuri-sama's doing." May said.

"It was." Jyuri replied softly.

"Say, Jyuri-sama," May asked after a short silence. "Will you be returning to Altair now?"

"Not yet, I need something else from Big Mom before Louis is safe." Jyuri shook her head. May looked disappointed, but didn't press Jyuri. "How's Louis?"

"He misses Jyuri-sama."

"Besides that?"

"He's a little temperamental lately," May said, and Jyuri immediately understood why from her expression. It was near Ume's death anniversary. "But everyone is healthy, and we all understand Louis-sama so it's ok."

"Thank you."

"It's our duty ad we enjoy it, if you thank us one more time, I will be offended on behalf of all my sisters, Jyuri-sama."

"If you say so," Jyuri laughed. The girls exchanged a few other words before Jyuri heard the familiar footsteps of Ace. What was he doing out of bed? "May, do you have a spare eternal log pose on you?"

"I had to exchange mine for something, can you give me it?" Jyuri asked, and immediately May pulled out an eternal log pose. "Thank you May, I believe my current chaperone is here."

"Chii, a friend?" Ace asked as he approached Jyuri and May. Jyuri nodded and May bowed.

"My brother's personal maid." Jyuri introduced. "And this is the Captain of the Spade Pirates."

"Chii, do you have something against names?" Ace questioned.

"No, I do not." Jyuri lied, and she knew he could see through her lie. "Anyways, let everyone be on their ways, say hi to Louis for me May."

* * *

If there was anything Jyuri was proud of herself for, it would be for keeping Ace away from Rayleigh and _Spadille_ for three whole days. But, she understood something else – she didn't particularly want to see Rayleigh too much herself. The old man just always sounded like he could see through her. And she wasn't comfortable letting others see her vulnerable side.

"Captain, exactly why are you here?" Jyuri asked Ace as he sat down next to her in the crows' nest.

"I'm the Captain, why can't I wonder around on my ship?" Ace asked.

"Touché, Captain." Jyuri replied, and offered Ace her mug of pear water. He looked at it, and raised an eyebrow to question what it was. "It's pear water."

"What?"

"Pear water." Jyuri repeated. "It's good for your throat."

"And we finally find out what the mysterious liquid in the kitchen all the time is." Ace mused. Jyuri frowned, but didn't say anything back. "Chii, did I ever tell you about my little brother?"

"If Captain did, I must've not listened." Jyuri replied honestly.

"He made me promise not to die when we were younger." Ace began. "And we promised we will be freer than anyone."

"Strange promises for children." Jyuri commented softly.

"Not in a place where humans aren't treated as humans."

"Let me guess, really dumb nobles?"

"Pretty much."

"Captain is in a sharing mood today."

"I will boast about my brother any day." Ace replied with a wide grin. "He's three years younger than me, so when he sets sail at seventeen, he will also make a name of himself."

"Captain really likes your brother."

"He's name is Luffy, and he's pretty amazing." Ace's eyes sparkled with what Jyuri recognised to be pride. "So we've got to try harder, so I can still laugh at him when he gets out in the ocean."

"We?"

"Spade Pirates."

"I see."

"First things first though, we need to wreck some havoc in the New World."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

"Captain, this is a letter addressed to you." Jyuri said as she sat down next to Ace in the crow's nest. She handed Ace the letter and a box of cookies. "It's from the government."

"What does the government want?" Ace raised an eyebrow and popped a cookie in his mouth before taking the letter. Jyuri shrugged and waited for Ace to open the letter. A few moments later, when Ace had read the letter, he laughed. Jyuri moved herself closer to Ace and skimmed the letter. "They want me to be a Shichibukai."

"After the accident a few days ago, I would think they want Captain as an ally." Jyuri commented. "You either raise the bounty of the crew that destroyed your supply base, or you want them as your ally. What are you going to do Captain?"

"Decline it, of course." Ace grinned, and Jyuri smiled back.

"Very Captain-esk." Jyuri replied and took out a second letter. "We received a letter back from the Red-Haired Pirates."

"Oh, what did they say?"

"Captain, what makes you think I read it?" Jyuri said as she passed the unopened letter to Ace, who took it quickly and opened it. He finished the letter with a satisfied grin. "Where are we setting off to now?"

"Chii, you're going to hate this, but a winter island, where the Red-Haired Pirates are." Ace grinned as he stood up and Jyuri sighed. She ran her hand through her pink hair that she had not bothered to tie up that day, and looked up at Ace.

"At least," Jyuri started as she took Ace's outstretched hand to help her up. "I got some winter clothes at the last island we stopped at."

"Well, wasn't that lucky Chii."

"Please don't sound so nonchalant about that Captain, since you were the one who destroyed my old clothes." Jyuri said as she patted away some dust. "Also, I want to make an official complaint, since Captain keeps accidentally setting fire to things."

"It wasn't an accident Chii, you were the one who let yourself get pushed into the fire." Ace countered. Jyuri just frowned. "Ok, maybe I also didn't look and thought you were an enemy. There was a lot of people."

"And you missed this head of pink hair?" Jyuri asked. Ace grinned apologetically in response. "Ah fine, whatever, I give up."

* * *

Jyuri wrapped the coat tighter around herself. She had not expected the island to be so cold. It honestly hadn't even felt so cold when they docked. It was only when Ace disappeared from the ship that the coldness registered in her head. Ace had said that they were going to have to restock at the island as well, which meant that they were going to wait a week at the godforsaken island for the log pose to set, and then set out.

"I want to stab someone." Jyuri muttered to herself as she climbed the mountain. Apparently, notorious pirates liked the caves better than the town itself. "I want to stab Captain." She had told him about her sensitivity to her surroundings, he could've at least thought to take her along, not to mention the poison that was lodged in her by Harpy. Having some sense not leave her in agony was an expectation. But then again, she was not _technically_ part of his crew, he had the right to not take her along. "I will be his crew if it means not having to climb a snowy mountain ever again." Jyuri told herself as she approached the entrance of the cave, guarded by two of the Red-Haired Pirates.

"Who are you?"

"I'm looking for my dumb Captain." Jyuri said, ready to curl into a ball and end her own life. Really, it was that cold. _Ace_ had to go with a coat. "I need to talk to him about his decision to come to this godforsaken island."

"Chii, what are you doing up here?" Ace had poked his head out of the cave before the two pirates could give Jyuri a reply. "You look cold."

"I AM cold Captain," Jyuri replied, already feeling herself slightly warmer. Ace's abilities were truly god sent. "This godforsaken island will be the death of me."

"I just sent Douglas a message, we're celebrating, so you might as well come in Chii." Ace said and Jyuri walked towards the onyx-haired male. "I'm surprised you didn't just teleport yourself up."

"With what? And it's so cold it hurts," Jyuri said as she moved herself under Ace's long coat and wrapped her arms around his torso. "Am I ever so glad I stole a Devil Fruit."

"Chii, you should greet people properly." Ace told her, though made no move to remove Jyuri from his torso. Jyuri whined slightly as she allowed herself to detach momentarily from Ace to greet Red-Haired Shanks.

"I'm Jyuri, currently freeloading off the Spade Pirates." She said with a bow, and instantly reattached herself back onto Ace. "I'm really sensitive to cold, so, please excuse me."

* * *

Jyuri woke up to howling winds outside of the cave. Thank goodness to Ace's abilities, he was warm, and she was nestled next to him, her head rested on his knee. Around them were men of both crews, as well as the mess left behind due to the celebrations that occurred a few hours prior. She had been given alcohol. That much she remembered. There was also a dull pain that told her she had probably drank quite a bit.

Really? They were ok with giving minors alcohol?

And she had taken it?

Jyuri really didn't want to think about it. The cold must've made her delirious.

Deciding that it was probably a good idea to clean up the mess, at least those left by Ace, Jyuri got up and set to work, promptly ignoring her headache. Pain was constant, which meant it didn't really bother Jyuri. Once she was done cleaning up the mess, she found some ginger in the Red-Haired crew's supplies, and decided to boil some ginger tea. By the looks of the pirates, she was willing to bet at least one of them was bound to wake up with a bad hangover (also she did kind of want some herself). Plus, she had to do something useful so she could ask Shanks the favour she had in mind since Ace had mentioned greeting him.

She curled up into a ball while she waited for the tea to boil. For some reason she felt really, really tired.

"Either my brain is giving up, or I'm sick." Jyuri muttered to herself.

"Chii, what are you doing?" Jyuri almost jumped when she heard Ace's voice behind her. She uncurled herself and stood up, involuntarily shivering slightly. Wordlessly, she pointed to the pot she had been watching over. "Ginger tea?"

"It helps hangovers." Jyuri explained.

* * *

...

"Hence, I would like to ask Mister to show Captain what Haoshoku haki is." Jyuri bowed to Shanks.

"So, you just want me to show him?" Shanks asked. Jyuri straightened up and nodded, then received a thumb up from the red-haired captain a few seconds later. She bowed again.

"Thank you," She thanked him before turning around to find Ace.

"You're the girl from Altair?" Shanks asked, stopping Jyuri in her tracks. She turned back to face him and nodded. "You could just show him Haoshoku yourself."

"An assassin has no need for the power to symbolise a conqueror." Jyuri replied. "Now then, I will leave Captain in your care, Mr. Shanks."

* * *

 _"Onee-chan?" Louis' pair of large green eyes looked at Jyuri, who was hunched over in pain. He had walked in just as their father left the room, and Jyuri did not miss their father's scrutinising gaze over her younger brother. The eight-year-old boy did not harbour a single scar anywhere on his body. He did not have the skills to be still for up to weeks at a time, waiting for the perfect chance to strike at someone's weakness._

 _He looked like a pampered eight-year-old._

 _Some part of Jyuri wanted to strangle him._

 _She bit back the pain, swallowed her hatred and smiled at him, straightening up._

 _"Louis, what are you here for?"_

 _"I was looking for Onee-chan."_

 _"What's wrong?"_

 _"I heard from May that Onee-chan is getting sent on another mission tomorrow." Louis looked sad. Why did he look sad? She went so he didn't have to. What was so hard to understand about that?_

 _Jyuri forced herself to once again swallow her anger._

 _She would convince herself to forget about it._

 _Accept her fate._

 _She would force herself to accept whatever fate hands to her._

 _She would._

 _"Hide yourself well, Louis, Onee-chan can't protect you while I'm away." Jyuri said to Louis, who was looking at her very seriously. "Do not let Father catch you."_

 _"I understand, Onee-chan."_

 _Did he really? Did her sheltered brother really understand what kind of place Altair was? Did he understand the extent of horror he would be subject to if he let himself be caught by their father?_

 _Jyuri didn't think Louis understood anything._

 _But she smiled, patted him on the head, and did what she was told._

Protect your siblings.

 _She had failed to do so with Ume. She didn't want to repeat that._

"Louis and Ume doesn't deserve that fate."

 _Her mother had told her that she was expendable. She was the pawn to keep her siblings away from harm._

 _She was nothing but a puppet._

* * *

 _I have a really distinct feeling that I'm jumping all over the place and it might confuse people._

 _Also if any updates are late, I am to blame because currently I am spending all my brain cells on an original story about reverse time traveling and kingdom warfare._

 _Murasaki xx_


	10. Chapter 9

_Firstly, high key shout out to Cooliceprincess who left a review. Thank you Lovely~_

 _Layers upon layers of cold sweat.  
_

 _I finished writing this chapter at 11:42 P.M. Monday, WA time._

 _There are several reasons why I haven't written this chapter in advance -_

 _1\. I am currently going through a none-stop Kim Heechul Youtube compilations phase._

 _2\. I went outside of my house and hung out with my friends._

 _3\. I really don't want uni to start back up._

 _But anyways, from next chapter on, it's...hopefully, more action._

 _I don't know, just let me off its a day or two late ok. I'm sat here awaiting the results of two auditions so like, my mind cannot settle._

* * *

 _Wounds from the weapons of Altair does not fade._

It was a fact Jyuri had known when she was given her weapon. The rapier named Sakura. The name which she had promptly stopped using because her father had told her it didn't need a name.

 _Tools does not require to be addressed with a name._

She had received her first scar when she accidentally called her rapier by the name Sakura in front of her father after he had told her that. A diagonal slash through the first rib on her right to the fourth rib on her left.

 _Weapons of Altair grows stronger with the amount of blood they draw._

Her father's blade grew stronger with any blood. Her mother's scythe grew stronger with the blood of whom she had considered enemies. Jyuri's rapier grew stronger by drinking the blood of its owner. Consequently, she had spent much of her childhood feeding Sakura her blood. The countless little scars across her body was the evidence of her attempt to get stronger in order to please her father.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but looking back, Jyuri almost found it funny. Her father did not praise her. It was just a weapon, and by his standards, if the wielder was strong enough, any weapon could be beyond deadly. And she had trained enough to prove her father's philosophy at a moment's notice.

She had once killed someone for the World Government with a stick of uncooked spaghetti. She would say that was a proud moment of her life, but then she had to throw the spaghetti into a pot and cook it for an innocent person to rid of evidence. And she wasn't very proud of involving innocent bystanders into that kind of thing. Just because she herself was immune to blood contamination, it didn't mean other people were immune as well.

She hadn't stuck around for long enough to find out what happened to the poor guy.

Hence, as Jyuri looked at the bounty poster that held her picture and name, she wondered exactly why the World Government had allowed her to get a bounty.

Nyx of Altair – 115, 000, 000 Beri.

"I thought we didn't get the honour." Jyuri mused as she jumped down from the crows' nest onto the deck. She had wanted a bounty for a very long time, only because it would draw attention, make her an easier target for the Big Mom Pirates. She hadn't thought at the time, that she would actually feel _proud_ of a bounty. But as she walked over to the poker game where Douglas was winning smugly, she actually felt the corners of her lips tug upwards.

"Jyuri, sup?" Damien asked as he looked up from his hand and saw her silently stood by the game.

"Finish the game first," Jyuri smiled. Damien looked unsettled, while Douglas was paying Jyuri minimal attention as he very subtly cheated to make his hand better. Cheating, as Jyuri had discovered, was very normal for pirates' poker games, just that some of the crew was not as good in the art of sleight of hand as others. Though, in her eyes, everyone's methods were much too easy to see through. It seemed that Douglas had learnt a few new tricks since the last time she had seen him play.

"Next week's crows' nest shifts are yours, Damien." Douglas showed his hand, where he had swapped in a triple.

"Damien, how about I take them?" Jyuri cut in. She was actually in a really good mood because of the bounty poster, but Damien just felt incredibly unsettled.

"Jyuri, you're in a funny mood, is it because of that plan back at the marines' supply base?" Douglas asked, finally paying her his full attention. Jyuri held up her bounty poster for him to see. Douglas' expression went from smug, to confused, to exasperation, and then finally, disappointment. "Only you have one?"

"I would be showing you if you've got one, Douglas." Jyuri giggled. Douglas sighed, but before he could say anything, Jyuri's head whipped around to the direction she felt a ship entering her sound web. She focused and tuned into the conversations aboard. It was the marines. They were _still_ after them? "Do you want to greet the marines with me then?"

"We can't even see a ship, Jyuri." Douglas deadpanned. "How far did you set the web out?"

"Enough for us to get a head start, if you're coming with me, Douglas." Jyuri smiled. Douglas stood up and patted dust off his pants, and squatted so that he could give Jyuri a piggy back ride. Jyuri jumped on easily and moments later, the spot on the deck was empty.

* * *

"'You are under arrest for the destruction of the 76th supply base of the Marines, as well as taking large amounts of firearms from the supply base'?" Jyuri mocked as she sat down on top of the marine captain who had shouted those words at her perhaps just moments earlier. Besides the soldiers she had left for Douglas, all other marines were now various types of furniture. There were chairs, as well as tables and lamps. She had tried to turn them into weaponry, apparently, they were not of equal value. "Just because I've been lying low as a result of that monster lady, doesn't mean Nyx of Altair has lost her edge."

"I will arrest you, I swear."

"Since you're so intent on arresting people," Jyuri smirked as she thought of a brilliant idea, and set her hand on top of the marine's head. A marine captain _had_ to be worth a pair of sea stones cuffs, right? "Why don't you try becoming a pair of sea stone cuffs? _Exchange._ "

"Wh-?" The question was left unfinished as the man lying flat on his face below Jyuri vanished. In place, was a pair of sea stone cuffs held firmly in Jyuri's hand. The girl only seemed slightly tired from the sea stones as she watched Douglas knock out the last marine. The Spades didn't particularly like killing people, which was perhaps another reason why Jyuri liked them so much. But at the same time, Jyuri had to secretly make sure they didn't get returning threats. She had always been the dark side of society, as they say – old habits die hard.

"Douglas, here's a pair of sea stone cuffs, let's go back." Jyuri jumped up and threw Douglas the heavy set of handcuffs. "Come on, don't look at me like that, with enough distance, they will turn back into humans."

"And this?" Douglas questioned, holding up the handcuffs. Jyuri frowned.

"He really wanted to arrest me." Jyuri pouted. Douglas sighed, and squatted back down to piggyback Jyuri again, so that she could use her powers to return them back onto _Spadille_. She noticed he had thrown the handcuffs onto the deck of the marine ship, but didn't mention it. Kindness was not her virtue, but keeping quiet definitely was.

 _Her powers would not be reversed unless she willed so._

* * *

Though there were definitely things that would be much better off unsaid, Jyuri had decided that it was not the time to keep quiet as she stared at the eternal log pose and map. She quickly checked the date and almost sighed. It was near the end of December, and they were heading straight to Altair's January – March location. She was on her way home, yet none of the Spade Pirates had a single clue.

Of course, just her luck.

Altair was a floating mansion, purely because her ancestors had thought to keep the place hidden so enemies would not find it. When it got to her grandfather's generation, they had kept the island travelling in a set route over a set period of time. She wondered what stopped her father from making her exchange something to have the bloody thing float in air. Perhaps that was a dumb thing to make her do.

She exited the chartography room and looked around for Ace. She was now much more liberal with her fruit power, as well as Melody's power. Some part of her intuition told her she might not have the chance to use the power if she kept it hidden for too long. Of course, it was a dumb thought; but when she woke up one day feeling a little less air in her lungs than usual, she had changed her mind. She would find a way to dislodge the poison.

She was allowed to be a little selfish sometimes.

Wasn't she?

She found Ace in _Spadille_ 's library. Which on its own was a rare sight, and then her eyes fell on the book – _The Art of Resource Management_. Why exactly was Ace reading her book again? Pirate captains were not meant to read that kind of thing. They had people to read it for them. Namely in Ace's case, Jyuri.

"Captain, this is a rare and confusing sight." Jyuri commented as she stopped a few steps next to the chair Ace was sitting in. Ace didn't even look up as he laughed.

"What, did Chii think I couldn't read?"

"Of course you can read Captain, what kind of idiot can't read?" Jyuri sighed.

"I couldn't when I was younger." Ace offered, his dark eyes that looked up at her was sparkling with amusement.

"Too busy looking for people to fight?" She giggled. Ace seemed to consider her question for a moment, something strange flashing across his eyes, and then grinned widely.

"Of course, I never lost before."

"I'm sure," Jyuri grinned back, deciding not to ask. And then she remembered why she had been looking for him in the first place. "Ah, Captain, we need to change the course of _Spadille_ , because it will be really bad if we run into something that's not on the map."

"Chii, how would you know if it's not mapped?" Ace laughed. Jyuri resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Captain, did you forget who I am?"

"Chii is Chii, no?"

"In three days, we will be reaching Altair." Jyuri managed softly. "Only those who directly serve the Altair name will be able to leave there alive. I do not want to put the crew into such a situation."

"Chii, weren't you the Princess or something?"

"I will not be able to stop them," Jyuri bit her bottom lip and felt her left-hand grip her rapier a little harder. She had not wanted to reveal some things yet still, but she supposed, she didn't want the Spades to die. "And I will not be able to leave my room, even in the luckiest situation."

"Why?" Ace's voice was finally serious, as if he finally caught onto Jyuri's request.

"There are some things about my brother," Jyuri stopped herself, and then directed the conversation away from Louis. "And I have done certain things before beginning my travels for there to be opposition. The moment I return, civil war will begin in Altair, and I will not involve the Spade Pirates in this."

"But Chii," Ace started, and stood up, putting a comforting hand on top of Jyuri's head. "You're a member of Spade Pirates."

Jyuri swallowed hard, and blinked back tears. Could they really accept her for who she was? Even the dark, twisted side of her? She wanted to make the bet.

She wanted to win the bet.

She would let herself cry only when she's won the bet she was going to make to herself. So she looked straight up into Ace's onyx eyes.

"Watch your back then Captain, Jyuri will not be able to help you once we step onto Altair."

* * *

Despite having about three days to mentally prepare, Jyuri was still not ready to step back into the floating mansion. It was just as she had remembered it – crazily big in size, and terrifying cold in temperature. Perhaps, she was feeling it a little more now she suffered from Harpy's poison. Even Ace's fruit could not help the chill she felt in her bones.

She had instructed Ram to direct the ship into one of the harbours on the side of the mansion, and then led the entire crew to the main hall. The walls of the hall were still stained with blood, as if no one wanted to forget what had happened to the last leader of Altair. But Jyuri knew better – there was someone who didn't want it to be changed. And that person was standing in the middle of the hall. In his hands was a ripped-up teddy bear, and his tall, yet lanky figure brought up both sadness and hatred in Jyuri.

Her brother Louis stood there in all his glory – the blond hair they had used to share alongside Ume; the pair of red eyes that was a trait of all members of the rulers of Altair; the tall and thin body shape they had inherited from their mother, which Jyuri had also given away. Everything was alright, until Louis grinned.

It was not the innocent and trustful grin she had remembered of her brother when he was younger. It was the grin he had shown her that had made her swear she would protect him.

It was her fault her brother had gone insane.

"Nee-chan, you should've told me if you were coming back!" He had thrown the bear the moment he saw her, and was now giving her a bone crushing hug. Crazy or not, Jyuri thought at that moment, he was still the cute little brother who loved her unconditionally. She heard herself laugh. "Who are these people with you?"

"Our guests," Jyuri replied in a soft voice. It was the voice she had always used with her brother. He was now peering curiously at the Spade crew. Jyuri tapped him lightly on the back. "Call for Fiona and Flora, they will know where to take them."

"They are not here to steal Nee-chan from me?" Jyuri spotted the glint quickly smiled warmly at her brother, and shook her head. She saw him relax. "Good."

"Let me just say something to them Louis," Jyuri said to him, and Louis pouted. But he let go of Jyuri and gave her space. Jyuri turned to Ace and Douglas, and pulled them close. "Trust Fiona and Flora, they have the same heterochromatic eyes like I do. Absolutely no one else if we want to get out of here alive. Everything else, act as I have taught."

She did not wait for a response, and turned to where Louis was.

She was voluntarily heading to her possible death.

* * *

"And here I thought the reigning Princess of Altair would not return until this bunch of old bones turn to dust." Jyuri sat on the throne, emitting the cool aura of a regal beauty. Elder Kim, her father's most trusted advisor, was standing beneath the elevated throne. He wore his most confident smirk, just as he always did. She had only seen that expression fade once in her life. Jyuri returned a cold smile.

"How could I, especially since Louis is still here."

"I'm incredibly glad, Princess, that you are finally back to take care of Altair." Sly old snake. He waved his hand and a servant walked up with a tray, carrying two goblets. He took one, and the servant knelt at the end of steps. Jyuri beckoned him forward, and she took the other goblet off the tray. "I once again swear my loyalty."

"Thank you, Elder Kim." Jyuri drank the liquid. Old snake had mixed sea water _and_ poison in it. She could tell it was a fast acting poison, but it almost took no effect in her body as the poison left by Harpy easily destroyed it. She hid a smile. Who would've thought one enemy will stop the next? But she probably couldn't use her ability for the next hour to two. "If the Elder is done, please excuse me, I have just returned, and am facing quite the amount of work."

"Of course Princess, if you have anything you require assistance with, I would be more than happy to help."

"Thank you for your concern." Jyuri waited until the snake-like man was out of the room before exhaling. Flora emerged from the shadows behind the throne.

"Jyuri-sama, we have ensured the Spade Pirates are all within the care of our own." Flora mouthed. Jyuri nodded. "Fiona put the captain in a room diagonally opposite of Jyuri-sama's."

"Take me back to my room Flora." Jyuri said out loud as she stood up. The next sentence, she mouthed. "Ensure no one else knows."

"I understand, Jyuri-sama."

Let the storm begin.

* * *

 _I am so sorry this was a crappy chapter I am reflecting on my laziness, trust me._

 _Also forgive typos_

 _Murasaki xx_


	11. Chapter 10

_WHAT HAPPENED TO UPDATES?_

 _Reason 1 - UNI HAPPENED_

 _Reason 2 - Writer's block_

 _Reason 3 - I'm just in general a very horrible person._

 _No, seriously, I've had to wake up at 5 in the morning for like five days in a row because good old uni has me wanting to neck._

 _Shall try update asap and get back on schedule but._

 _We shall see._

* * *

Three days, fifty attempts in erasing her existence off the earth. Jyuri was beginning to honestly admire the effort Elder Kim went through to dethrone her. Of course, she had not seen anyone from the Spades during the three days, except for Ace, who Fiona had, for some bizarre reason, put in a room so close to Jyuri's, it was impossible not to see him wondering around. She hadn't risked talking to him, but it was nice to know she had some people who actually didn't want her dead around her. Fiona and Flora were a different story, she trusted them to not kill her.

Well, at least, she really hoped so at that point.

Once all this was over, Jyuri promised herself as she walked out of her room on the fourth morning, she was going to give herself a holiday that lasted for the rest of her life. She would do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Surely, they had enough money. Now, just if everything would go within her vague plan.

"Chii," Jyuri resisted the urge to face palm. Ace could at least learn to play by the rules, just this once. Jyuri turned around and faced him, her expression passive. She was greeted with Ace's easy-going grin, as if they were not in a life-threatening situation. "I was wondering if there was a training room somewhere in this place."

"You can't find a single training room in an assassins' den?" Jyuri gaped. Was the mansion really that big? Yeah, it was, it was the size of an island. But still, it's been three days, there was really no way in hell no one was able to find anything. Unless, the gears in Jyuri's brain clicked, once, and once more. She sighed. "I will show you the way Captain."

"That's our Chii." Ace grinned widely. Jyuri sighed again, and led the way.

"Say Captain, none of the crew has seen Louis alone, have they?" Jyuri asked once she made sure there was no one within earshot of them. Ace shook his head. "I suspect Kim's people to move possibly tomorrow night or the night after that, please stick to the plan."

"Chii, you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're paler than usual." Jyuri actually laughed at Ace's comment.

"I didn't think that was possible." Jyuri giggled and shrugged. "I'm just tired, Captain, managing this place is a lot of work. I just need a holiday."

"It's, near New Year's." Ace offered awkwardly.

"In five days, yes," Jyuri mused. "Given I make it out of this alive and well, I shall give order that we have a New Year's feast or something."

"At least trust your own plan, Chii." Ace laughed.

"I have no problems with my plan, Captain." Jyuri deadpanned. "I only worry because human beings tend to not play by the rules."

"Hey Chii, I had to talk to you, not breaking the rules here."

"I wasn't referring to you, Captain." Jyuri smiled drily as she opened the doors to a training room.

"Oh yeah Chii, Jack and Mirrow haven't been seen since the night before the last," Jyuri's eyes widened. "When we were doing the head count last night, we couldn't find Sam either."

Jyuri remained quiet, but the gears in her head turned. She had been keeping tabs on all of Kim's men, but none of them could've had the time to pull of an act of spiriting away pirates. The Spade crew might not all owned a bounty of their own, but they could hold their ground in most cases. Her eyes narrowed.

She didn't want to suspect Fiona or Flora. Because she trusted them.

There was one more suspect.

Her brother, Louis.

But why, and how?

"I will look into it." Jyuri replied after a while. "Try to have everyone keep tabs on one another as much as possible. As for Captain," Jyuri paused and took out something from the dress she was wearing. It was a ring. "This is a ring blade made from Altair metal. It will activate whenever it feels the owner is in danger."

"I will be fine, Chii." Ace grinned, making no move to take the weapon. Jyuri furrowed her brows.

"Just in case, Ace."

* * *

Jyuri found Louis in a room full of torn plushie toys. May and Fay were with him. They bowed when Jyuri entered the room.

"Jyuri-sama," May greeted. Jyuri smiled at the two girls who had served her brother since she could remember. Fay was looking at her with worry etched into her face. "Are you quite alright?"

"Just tired, that's all." Jyuri replied dismissively as she looked at her brother, who was busy gutting an animal. Stuffed toy, not animal. "Does he always gut them like that?"

"He's gotten very into it recently." May replied. Jyuri nodded her head absent-mindedly. "Ah, I think he might've taken something of Jyuri-sama's."

"If he likes it, then let him gut it." Jyuri decided. She only had one plush toy, and that one plush toy was from her mother. Though, it had been such a long time since she last thought of it that as she looked around the room, she couldn't seem to put a finger on which one was hers. Some part of her found that funny, some other part of her brain was registering how the plush toys were thrown onto the ground. That reminded her of something. She concentrated and looked around the room.

Louis had thrown the plush toys exactly the way she remembered she had thrown the bodies…

Jyuri forced herself to breathe.

"I leave the cleaning up to you when he finishes." Jyuri said softly, and turned to leave.

* * *

Jyuri had committed three massacres by hand in her lifetime. And she remembered all of them.

The first when she just started her training. Her father had gotten many prisoners from the Altair prison and thrown her into the same training room as them.

'The last one standing will earn freedom.' He had said.

Jyuri could still remember the first time she had pulled off a rib off a dead body, and used that as a weapon. It was slippery, and quite fragile. She remembered the part of her that had thought 'Ah, wouldn't it be great if I could sharpen this?'.

She had been five.

The second time she had been sent to collect all the heads of a particular pirate group. She remembered taking people's heads off with all sorts of things. The easiest thing to use was the piano wire she had found on her way there.

The third time, at the request of her brother. It was a massacre she had committed because her brother had asked her to save him from the pain. The pain she had been subjected to the moment she could remember and the pain she had endured her entire childhood.

She remembered every single moment of that.

She started with the first person in the room that she deemed as an enemy – her father.

She had not been strong enough to defeat him then, and she remembered exchanging the blonde hair she loved so much for the ability to defeat him. Her blonde hair had turned into the brightest shade of pink, and she pulled out her father's heart with her hand. And then, in her state of…insanity, she had left her brother alone with the glaring, but unmoving corpse of their father, and then ventured out to kill all people in the mansion that were loyal to her father. And she had found them in the main hallway.

She remembered sinking her rapier into the first body, and then, instantly, all the rest in the hall turned on her. Assassins' reflexes were incredible like that.

At one point, she had lassoed someone with another corpse's intestines, swung the flailing body into a blade held by yet another person, and then left them there. There was something inhuman about herself. She had always known that.

She felt a sense of relief that day as she finished off the last enemy. She even felt a sense of happiness. There was pent up hatred and anger in herself, and she had finally exploded.

Before that, she had cursed her fate. She had hated her entire family. She hated her father for the constant pain and suffering. She hated her mother who prioritised her siblings above her. She hated her siblings who were ignorant of the pain she was going through. She hated herself, who had no power to change her fate.

And then, when she finally ended everything, she came to accept Jyuri Glass as Jyuri Glass. She _wanted_ to be a puppet of fate then. Her flames of hatred were put out by the flood of blood.

But she would always have that inhuman side in her.

It was in her blood.

* * *

Jyuri closed the book she had been reading and looked up. Flora was walking towards her with a plate of afternoon tea and snacks.

"I couldn't find anything, but as far as information goes, nothing dangerous has been let out." Flora told Jyuri as she set down the plate on the table besides Jyuri. "Also, poison-tested."

"It's not like it works on me," Jyuri giggled as she took a cookie. "Also, those are people we have in the cells, not things, Flora."

"If we don't get them from Kim any time soon, they _are_ going to be things." Flora replied pointedly. "Just add a few more to the collection, like usual."

"Flora, I do not remember you being this blunt," Jyuri laughed and Flora just shrugged. "You thought donut was an insult before I left."

"We are so repressing that memory, Jyuri-sama."

"I'm bringing it up on your twenty first birthday, and the time you took Mother's underwear and hid them in Kim's room."

"Arguably, him getting in a lot of deep shit was the proudest moment of my life." Flora countered. "So I'm ok with that memory being shared."

"Of course you are," Jyuri giggled and glanced over at the wall. "Ah, I need to go to the throne room before anything goes terribly wrong again."

"It's just Kim."

"And it's just the concept of time, Flora." Jyuri smiled and took a finally cookie. She stopped at the door. "You know Flora, I kind of miss being back here."

Flora stayed silent, and only spoke when she knew Jyuri was well, well out of ear-shot.

"But you don't belong here, my dear Jyuri."

* * *

Douglas and Damien were on their way back from the large dining hall. There was something seriously wrong about the land of Altair, they felt not only always watched, but a chill every once in a while. Fiona had laughed and told them it was the residence of a famous family of assassins, of course things were going to haunt them. But the two members of the Spade pirates knew it wasn't the same feeling.

At least, they deduced so.

"Man, this place is seriously creepy, I don't know how people live in here all the time." Damien commented as he shivered. Douglas shrugged. "Do you feel like it's colder than usual in here?"

"To your left is a wall with dried blood." Douglas pointed out. Of course, three days of being at the Altair residence has taught him that blood was an easy occurrence everywhere.

"No kidding, this place seriously needs a clean."

"It's Jyuri's brother's preference apparently." Douglas remembered the piece of trivia Fiona had told her. "Man, Jyuri does not have it easy."

"You don't say," Damien replied. "And she puts up with Captain Ace all the time."

"Once we get out of here, we really should get her something."

"We really-" Damien's voice cut out. Douglas turned towards the direction Damien was walking next to him…and found no one. Damien had disappeared into thin air apparently.

"Damien, not funny." Douglas muttered.

There was no reply.

Then he felt someone behind him. He turned.

Empty corridor.

Douglas looked around him alarmingly.

Two pairs of eyes looked at him from the end of the corridor.

"This is for the good of everyone." Soft voices.

He recognised it as one of the two pairs of twins he knew. He couldn't tell.

May. Fay.

Fiona. Flora.

He couldn't tell.

And then he felt a hand at the base of the back of his neck.

Darkness.

* * *

"What?" Jyuri paused mid-strike and stared at Ace. She had taken the liberty to train a while with Ace, but she hadn't expected Douglas and Damien to also disappear. She ran a hand through her pink hair which she had neglected since she had told Flora not to bother that morning. She looked at Ace for a moment, and then sighed. "Let's take a walk somewhere."

"Where?"

"Altair's…" Jyuri considered it for a while, trying to find the right word. "Underground bunker."

"What do you mean?"

"You will see what I mean when we get there, Captain." Jyuri replied.

* * *

 _Shall see when the next chapter gets up...I have no idea where this story wants to go. It doesn't want to listen to me._

 _Murasaki xx_


End file.
